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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




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1 



REPRESENTATION 

OF THE 



HEART OF MAN 

IN ITS DEPRAVED STATE BY NATURE, 

AND THE 

CHANGES WHICH IT EXPERIENCES UNDER THI 
INFLUENCES OF 



THE SPIRIT OF GOD 



OPERATING UPON MR£ ^ 

jr^ .,."*.. • " 
TO WHICH ARE ADDED, 

DIRECTIONS FOR KEEPING THE HEART. 

■ : C— - — — 9 

"Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall 
be opened unto you." Matt. vii. 7. 

"Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of Dfe. M 
Prov. iv.23. 



THIRD EDITION. 



NEW YORK. 

J. H. MINUSE, 400 PEARL-STREET, 

STEREOTYPED BY J. S. REDFIELD. 
1837. 



Entered, according to the Act of Congress, November 5th, in the year 1832, 
by Pbtbr D. Myers, m the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern 
yfetrictofNewYorfc. 



PREFACE. 



The Publisher, encouraged by the favourable re- 
ception and the rapid sale of the last edition of this 
work, has been induced to offer a second edition with 
some additions, revised and corrected. And as the 
present is a time when the Christian world is alive 
to every sentiment of humanity, and all striving 
to throw in their mite into the treasury, in order that 
the grand object, the salvation of the souls of men, 
may be effected, he feels a consciousness, that in 
presenting this little work to the public, he is offering 
something, although small yet substantial and weL 
calculated, if read with serious attention, to stir up 
the unawakened soul to a sense of his depraved 
situation, and to beget a spirit of inquiry in the 
mind, which may lead the inquiring soul to open 
his lips in prayer, and press his suit at a throne of 
grace — believe, and enter into the joy of his Lord. 
A general outline of the contents cannot be better 
described, than by the following quotation from 
Banyan : 

This book, it chalketh out before thine eyes 
The man that seeks the everlasting prize : 



4 PREFACE. 

It shows you whence he comes, whither he goes ; 
What he leaves undone ; also what he does : 
It shows you how he runs, and runs, 
Till he unto the gate of glory comes. 

It shows, too, who set out foj life amain, 
As if the lasting crown they would obtain : 
Here also you may see the reason why 
They lose their labour, and like fools do die. 

This book will make a traveller of thee, 
If by its counsel thou wilt ruled be; 
It will direct thee to the holy land, 
If thou wilt its directions understand : 
Yea, it will make the slothful active be ; 
The blind also delightful things to see. 



Peter D. Myers. 



REPRESENTATION, &c. 



FIGURE I. 

Picture of the heart of a person dead in trespasses and sins t 
and who suffers satan to reign in him. 

You see in this heart several figures representing 
the evil propensities of fallen man. 

1. The Peacock is represented as spreading his 
tail of variegated colours, and denotes that hateful 
and killing sin Pride, which shows its appearance in 
various ways, and leads us on to destruction and 
death. 

2. The Goat, being an unruly and bad smelling 
animal represents the licentiousness, and impurity of 
the unregenerated heart of man. 

3. The Hog, being an animal fond of filth, is to 
represent drunkenness, gluttony, and dissipation of 
every kind. 

4. The Toad, is to represent a low and earthly 
mind, covetous of this world's good, keeps close to 
the earth, and is never satisfied. 

5. The Serpent, is to represent deceit, lying, and 
envy, seeking to supplant and ruin others, if more 
prosperous than ourselves. 

6. The Tiger, is to represent anger, unkindness, 
any temper contrary to love. 

7. The Turtle, is to represent idleness, and sloth, 
a low grovelling mind, earthly and sensual. 

The guardian angel is watching over the sinner 
for good. The Dove, signifying the Holy Spirit, is 
hovering round, but finds no entrance in his hearty 



6 



REPRESENTATION OP 



because he is blinded by the Devil ; and led captive at 
his will. 

The eye represents the mind, which is closed ; it 
does not see the light of life, all is dark, and obscure 
to the natural man, — as our Saviour has said, The 
light of the body is the eye : if therefore thine eye be 
single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if 
thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of dark- 
ness : if therefore the light that is in thee be dark- 
ness, how great is that darkness ? The eye may also 
mean the understanding as Paul has it, Eph. iv. 18. 
Having the understanding darkened, being alienated 
from the life of God, by the ignorance that is in them 
through the hardness of their hearts. 

By the fall of man all the powers of nature were 
depraved, polluted, and corrupted. 1st. The under- 
standing was darkened. Eph. iv. 18. 2d. The con- 
science defiled. Heb. x. 22. 3d. The will obstinate and 
rebellious. Is. xxviii. 14 ; Rom. viii. 7. 4th. The af- 
fections carnal and sensual. Eph. ii. 3L 5th. All the 
thoughts uninterruptedly evil. Gen. vi. 5. 6th. And 
the whole mind, or heart, a nest of all manner of abo- 
minations. Jer. xvii. 9 ; Matt. xv. 19. 

" Original or birth sin is the corruption of the na- 
ture of every man that naturally is engendered of the 
offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone 
from original righteousness, and is of his own nature 
inclined to evil, and that continually." Deformed as 
the picture is that is here drawn, it does not exceed 
in the darkness of its shades the original portrait, as 
delineated by the inspired writers in general. Moses, 
who informs that God created man in his own im- 
age, and after his likeness, soon casts a shade on his 
original dignity by giving us a sad account of his fall. 
He represents him, after his defection from God, as a 
criminal under sentence of death, — a wretch filled 
with guilt and shame, and dreading the presence of 
his Creator, — and turned out of Paradise into a wil- 



THE HEART OF MAN. 



7 



derness which bears the marks of desolation for his 
sake ; and in consequence of this apostasy, he died, 
and all his posterity died in him. 

The natural consequence of this is, that every one 
descended from him, comes into the world spiritually 
dead, dead to God, wholly dead in sin : entirely void 
of the life of God, void of the image of God, of all that 
righteousness and holiness, wherein Adam was cre- 
ated. Instead of this, every man born into the world, 
now bears the image of the devil, in pride and self- 
will ; the image of the beast, in sensual appetites and 
desires. While a man is in a mere natural state, before 
he is born of God, he has, in a spiritual sense, eyes 
and sees not : a thick veil lies upon them. He has 
ears, but hears not ; he is utterly deaf to what he is 
most of all concerned to hear. His other spiritual 
senses are all locked up ; he is in the same condition 
as if he had them not. Hence he has no knowledge of 
God, no intercourse with him ; he is not at all ac- 
quainted with him. He has no true knowledge of the 
things of God, either spiritual or eternal. He says 
unto God, depart from us we desire not the know- 
ledge of thy ways ; we do not want to know much of 
God, nor what is our duty to him. 

The state of nature is a state of utter darkness ; 
a state wherein " darkness covers the earth, and gross 
darkness the people. 7 ' The poor unawakened sinner, 
how much knowledge soever he may have as to other 
things, has no knowledge of himself; in this respect 
" he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." He 
knows not that he is a fallen spirit, whose only busi- 
ness in the present world, is to recover from his fall, 
to regain that image of God wherein he was created. 
He sees no necessity for the one thing needful, even 
that inward universal change, that " birth from 
above," which is the beginning of that total renova- 
tion ; that sanctification of spirit, soul, and body 
" without which no man shall see the Lord." Full 



8 



REPRESENTATION OP 



of all disease as he is, he fancies himself in perfect 
health : fast bound in misery and iron, he dreams 
that he is happy, and at liberty. He says " Peace ! 
Peace !" while the devil, " as a strong man armed," 
is in full possession of his soul. He sleeps on still, 
and takes his rest, though hell is moved from beneath 
to meet him ; though the pit, from whence there is no 
return, hath opened its mouth to swallow him up ; a 
fire is kindled around him, yet he knoweth it not , 
yea, it burns him, yet he lays it not to heart. 

Fearful and impious work do the passions make 
when they are engaged on the side of the flesh, the 
world, and the devil. What bold contempt of God 
and all that is holy ! What unruly violence of love 
to vanity and sensual pleasure ! What mad delight 
in sin ! What impetuous desires of forbidden objects ! 
What malice boils in the heart against our neigh- 
bour, upon every supposed injury ! What wicked 
envy frets and rages in the soul at the welfare of 
others ! What wrath and indignation, and revenge, 
are continually ready to be in arms ! and how do 
those hellish passions employ the tongue in slander 
and lies, and sometimes imbrue the hands in mis- 
chief and blood ? These are some of the fruits of the 
carnal mind which is at enmity against God, and 
spring from the heart of man in his fallen state. 
By the carnal mind we understand a mind that is 
" earthly ', sensual, and devilish" It is earthly, as all 
its tendency and propensities are to the earth, and to 
earthly attachments and pursuits. There is no natu- 
ral disposition in such a mind to " set its affections on 
things above." It is sensual, as it leads to the grati 
fication and indulgence of all the senses and bodily 
appetites ; and neither desires nor relishes spiritual 
things. It is devilish, because it includes in itself a 
principle of pride and of hostility to God and his go- 
vernment. But what a glorious victory is it to have 
the vicious affections entirely subdued, and the pow- 



THE HEART OF MAN. 



9 



ers of nature, which had been usurped by the devil, 
seized and restrained, and consecrated to the God of 
heaven, and become instruments of holiness and 
peace ! 

Reader ! is this the character and state of thy soul ! 
art thou in the gall of bitterness^ and bonds of ini- 
quity ? Arise, call on the name of the Lord, that the 
grace of repentance may be given unto thee, and 
thou find mercy in the forgiveness of all thy sins> 
by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Sinners, turn, Why will ye die ? 
God your Maker, asks you why ? 
God, who did your being give, 
Made you with himself to live; 
He the fatal cause demands, 
Asks the work of his own hands, 
Why, ye thankless creatures, why 
Will ye cross his love and die ? 

Sinners, turn, why will ye die ? 
God your Saviour, asks you why ? 
Christ, who did your souls retrieve, 
Died himself that ye might live. 
Will you let him die in vain 7 
Crucify your Lord again 1 
Why, ye ransom'd sinners, why, 
Will ye slight his grace, and die?, 

Sinners, turn, why will ye die? 
God the spirit asks you why '] 
He who all your lives hath strove, 
Woo'd you to embrace his love j 
Will ye not his grace receive ? 
Will ye still refuse to live 1 
Why, you long-sought sinj^ers, why 
Will you grieve your God, and die? 

Dead, already dead within, 

Spiritually dead in sin : 

Dead to God, while here you breathe; 

Pant you after second death ? 

Will ye still in sin remain, 

Greedy of eternal pain % 

O, ye dying sinners, why, 

Why will ye for ever die, ? 



10 



REPRESENTATION OP 



FIGURE II. 

Picture of the heart of a person convinced of sin t and 
endeavouring to flee the wrath to come. 

The sword in the angel's hand signifies justice, the 
awakened soul now feels that it would have been just 
in God to have damned him long ago. The skull in 
the other hand signifies that Christ was crucified, 
and died, to make provision for his salvation. By the 
powerful influence of the spirit of God, you see the 
devil and his associate spirits taking their departure. 
The Dove, signifying the Holy Spirit, has opened 
the eyes of his understanding, and he who of old 
iC commanded light to shine out of darkness, shining 
on his heart, he sees the light of the glory of God," 
his glorious love " in the face of Jesus Christ." His 
ears being opened, he is now capable of hearing the 
inward voice of God, saying, " my son, give me thy 
heart," 

» Repentance is taken, for that saving grace wrought 
in the soul by the Spirit of God, whereby a sinner is 
made to see and be sensible of his sin, is grieved and 
humbled before God on account of it, not so much for 
the punishment to which sin has made him liable, as 
that thereby God is dishonoured and offended, his 
laws violated, and his own soul polluted and defiled ; 
and this grief arises from love to God, and is accom- 
panied with a hatred of sin, a love to holiness, and a 
fixed resolution to forsake sin, and an expectation of 
favour and forgiveness, through the merits of Christ, 
This is evangelical or gospel repentance. Mat. iii. 2 4 
8 ; Acts iii. 19 ; 2 Cor. vii. 10. 

When men are convinced of the heinous nature of 
sin in themselves, and before God, :hey are brought 
to a hearty repentance of the same, by sincere resolu- 



THE HEART OF MAN. 



11 



tions of amendment, and by bringing forth fruits cor- 
responding ; by ceasing from evil, doing good, using 
the ordinances of God in general, obeying him ac- 
cording to the measure of grace which they have 
received. They feel in themselves the heavy burden of 
sin, see damnation to be the reward of it, behold with 
the eye of their mind the horror of hell : they trem- 
ble, they quake, and are inwardly touched with sor- 
rowfulness of heart, and cannot but accuse them- 
selves, and open their grief unto Almighty God, and 
call upon him for mercy. This being done seriously, 
tfieir mind is so occupied, partly with sorrow and 
Heaviness, partly with an earnest desire to be deli- 
vered from this danger of hell and damnation, that all 
desire of meat and drink is laid apart, and loathing 
of all earthly things and pleasure cometh in place. 
So that nothing liketh them more, than to weep, 
to lament, to mourn, and both with words and beha- 
viour of body, to show themselves weary of life. 
When the heart is awakened to a full sense of sin, 
and the fear of divine vengeance possesses and tor- 
ments the spirit, then it is the most importunate in- 
quiry of the heart and lips, "What shall I do to be 
saved ?" How shall I escape the wrath to come ? 
How is the governing justice of God to be satisfied for 
my offences ? What is the way to be made partaker 
of his pardoning mercy ? " Wherewith shall I bow 
myself, and worship the most High God." Mic. vi. 6. 
This was the language of the awakened jailer, who 
had just before scourged the saints of the Lord, the 
apostles. Acts xvi. 30. This was the earnest cry of 
the crucifiers of Christ himself, at St. Peter's sermon, 
"when they were pricked to their hearts." Thus the 
Psalmist prayed when distressed on account of his 
sins, " Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my 
transgressions : according to thy mercy, remember 
thou me for thy goodness 1 sake, O Lord." Ps. xxv. 7 
And then it is added, " Good and upright is the Lord ; 



12 



REPRESENTATION OP 



therefore will he teach sinners in the way. (ver. 8.) St 
Paul learned all the terrors of the Lord, and felt all 
his painful passions in uproar, when he was struck 
down to the dust, with the dreadful and overwhelm- 
ing glory in his way to Damascus. And with what 
intense and hasty zeal did he make this inquiry, 
" Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" And when 
he had learned the knowledge of Christ, as the only 
way to the favour of God and salvation, how highly 
did he value it ! 

As the great end for which Christ came into the 
world was to save us from our sins, all who would 
partake of his salvation, must give up the service of 
sin, or they will seek after it in vain. " Repent, and 
turn yourselves from all your transgressions ; so ini- 
quity shall not be your ruin." Ezek. xviii. 30. This 
includes all kinds of wickedness, profaneness, deceit, 
treachery, intemperance, lewdness, wrath, strife, and 
malice ; and whatever is contrary to the Gospel, dis- 
honourable to God, hurtful to others, or dangerous to 
ourselves. 

Reader ! I dare not refrain from adding one plain 
question, which I beseech you to answer, not to me, 
but to God. Have you ever experienced this repent- 
ance yourself? this godly sorrow for sin? Did you 
ever feel in yourself that heavy burden of sin ? Of 
sin in general ; more especially inward sin ? Of pride, 
anger, lust, vanity ? Of (what is all sin in one) that 
carnal mind, which is enmity, essential enmity against 
God ? Do you know by experience what it is, To be- 
hold with the eye of the mind the horror of hell ? Was 
your mind ever so taken up, partly with sorrow and 
heaviness, partly with an earnest desire to be delivered 
from this danger of hell and damnation, that even 
all desire of meat and drink was taken away, and you 
loathed all worldly things and pleasure ? Surely, if 
you ever knew what it was to have the arrovjs of the 
Almighty thus sticking fast in you, you cannot 



THE HEART OF MAN. 



13 



lightly condemn those who cry out, The pains of hell 
come about me : the sorrows of death compass me, 
and the overflowings of ungodliness make me afraid. 
Who shall deliver me ? 

If you have thus repented, you are not far from the 
kingdom of God. Open the door of your heart, let 
the blessed Jesus in, who has been knocking, and 
waiting until his locks are wet with the dew of the 
night desiring admission. Throw yourself on his 
mercy, and believe on the Lord Jesus, and you shall 
be saved. The promise is " if we confess our sins he 
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins/ 7 penitent 
soul, believe the word of God ; remember, now is the 
day of salvation, now is the accepted time, trust in him 
with all your soul, and he is your Saviour, and you 
shall be his by adoption, and be enabled by the holy 
Spirit given you, to call him Abba, Father ; then will 
you find rest to your soul, yea, peace the world cannot 
give nor take away. 

Father of Jesus Christ, my Lord, 

I humbly seek thy face, 
Encourag'd by the Saviour's word 

To ask thy pard'ning grace. 
Entering into my closet, I 

The busy world exclude ; 
In secret prayer for mercy cry, 

And groan to be renew'd. 
Thy grace I languish to receive, 

The spirit of love and power; 
Blameless before thy face to live, 

To live and sin no more. 
Fain would I all thy goodness feel, 

And know my sins forgiven ! 
And do on earth thy perfect will 

As angels do in heaven. 

O Father, glorify thy Son , 

And grant what I require ; 
For Jesus' sake the gift send down, 

And answer me by fire. 
Kindle the flame of love within, 

Which may to heaven ascend ; 
And now the work of grace begin. 

Which shall m glory end. 

2 



14 



REPRESENTATION OP 



FIGURE III. 

Picture of the heart of a person whose sins are forgiven, 
and who is filled with peace and joy in believing in the 
Lord Jesus. 

God is nigh unto them that are- of a broken heart, 
and a contrite spirit, he healeth the broken in heart, 
and bindeth up their wounds. Ps. cxlvii. 3. 

The angel in this plate is presenting in one hand 
the Holy Bible, encouraging the soul still to rely- 
on the precious promises therein contained. In the 
other hand is the cross, signifying that ail the bless- 
ings we enjoy, both spiritual and temporal, have been 
purchased for us by the Saviour's death, whereby 
provision is made for the salvation of our souls. 

The eye here is represented as looking upwards, 
watching the motions and influence of the Holy 
Spirit ; his eye is now single to the glory of God, 
therefore his body is full of light. 

The Dove, signifying the Holy Spirit, has taken 
possession of this heart, and you see the Devil and 
his associate spirits, that once possessed it are now 
driven out, and the fruits of the Spirit are now im- 
planted. In the place of pride is humility, in the 
place of licentiousness and impurity is purity, &c. 
We can read what is his language, being born again. 
Come and hear, all ye that fear God, &c. 

The soi:l is made to rejoice in the Lord, his eyes 
overflow with tears of joy, and with the Psalmist he 
cries out, I will extol thee, my God, O King ; I will 
bless thy name for ever, and ever. And also in lan- 
guage like this : I waited patiently for the Lord ; and 
he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought 
me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, 




The law of the Lord is perfect p , converting tfie soul'. 



THE HEART OF MAN. 



15 



and set my feet upon a rock, and established my 
goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, 
even praise unto our God. 

He is now delivered from the state, and the wretch- 
edness, and body of death, of which he had been 
complaining — and a new state is possessed in Christ 
Jesus — and there is now no condemnation. " For ye 
have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear ; 
but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby 
we cry, Abba, Father : the Spirit itself beareth witness 
with our spirit that we are the children of God : and 
if children, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint heirs 
with Christ." The Spirit, as the great agent in man's 
new creation, and salvation, worketh with energy, 
and worketh effectually to the casting down of every 
high imagination and thought that exalteth itself ; 
and bringeth all into subjection to the obedience of 
faith. To dwell in us, and walk in us ; to take away 
the heart of stone, and give us a heart of flesh, is ano- 
ther promise full of consolation, and well calculated 
to inspire our faith. Let us not say, " How can these 
things be?" for, be assured, "so is every one that is 
born of the Spirit." To be created anew, or to have 
the renewing of the Holy Ghost, is also to have the 
fruits of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, long-suffering, 
gentleness, and goodness. 

St. Paul declares, that being justified by Faith, we 
have peace with God; which undoubtedly means, 
not only that God is at peace with us, but that we 
have peace of conscience, and that the sense of the 
Divine displeasure is removed : as it is expressed in 
other passages, " There is now no condemnation to 
them who are in Christ Jesus," " If our hearts con- 
demn us not, then have we confidence towards God." 
He also mentions that the love of God is shed abroad 
in the hearts of such, by the Holy Ghost which is 
given unto them. The Apostle does not intend merely 
to inform us, that God loves us, but that we feel a 



16 



REPRESENTATION OF 



return of love to him in our hearts. And St. John 
says, " Every one that loveth is born of God, and 
knoweth God." Now is it possible that a person, who 
is under deep distress of mind for his past sins, and 
walks in sorrow and anguish, with a sense of guilt 
upon his conscience ; can, at the same time have these 
marks of being justified before God ? have peace with 
him, and peace of mind, and feel the love of God shed 
abroad in his heart, by the Holy Ghost given to him ? 
Each of the blessings here mentioned, as is clear from 
the oracles of truth, belongs to that soul which is jus- 
tified by faith in the Redeemer, and Ave know not 
how it is possible for a person to possess them, and 
not be conscious thereof. 

It is undoubtedly our privilege to enjoy a sense of 
the favour of God, and to walk in the light of his 
countenance. And when, being redeemed by the 
blood of Christ, we are brought into the glorious 
liberty of the sons of God, we may standfast in the 
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free ; having 
our hope full of a blessed and glorious immortality. 
Then shall our peace flow as a river, and our right- 
eousness as the leaves of the sea. 

Conversion is the turning, or total change of a sin- 
ner from his sins to God, and is produced by the in- 
fluence of divine grace on the soul. Conversion 
evidences itself by ardent love to God, Ps. lxxiii. 25 — 
delight in his people, John xiii. 35 — attendance on 
his ordinances, Ps. xxvii. 4. — confidence in his pro- 
mises, Ps. ix. 10. — abhorrence of self, and renuncia- 
tion of the world, Jas. iv. 4. — submission to God's 
authority, and uniform obedience to his word, Matt, 
vii. 20. 

The person thus converted is enabled to taste as 
well as see, how gracious the Lord is. He enters into 
the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, and tastes of the 
powers of the world to come. He finds Jesus' love 
far better than wine ; yea ? sweeter than honey or the 



THE HEART OF MAN. 



17 



honey comb. He knows what that meaneth, " all thy 
garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia." He feels 
the love of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy 
Ghost which is given unto him. This change from 
spiritual death to spiritual life, is properly the New 
Birth : all the particulars whereof are admirably well 
expressed by Dr. Watts in one verse : 

" Renew my eyes, and form my ears, 
And mould my heart afresh ; 
Give me new passions, hopes, and fears, 
And turn the stone to flesh." 

" Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee" — 
"go and sin no more." This is the purport of what 
God speaks to his heart ; although perhaps not in 
these very words. He is now ready to hear whatso 
ever u he that teacheth man knowledge," is pleased 
from time to time to reveal to him. He feels he is 
conscious of a "peace which passeth all understand- 
ing." He many times feels such a joy in God, as is 
" unspeakable and full of glory." All his spiritual 
senses are now exercised to discern spiritual good 
and evil. By the use of these, he is daily increasing 
in the knowledge of God, of Jesus Christ whom he 
hath sent, and of all the things pertaining to his in- 
ward kingdom. And now he may be properly said 
to live : God having quickened him by his Spirit, he 
is alive to God through Jesus Christ. He lives a life 
the world knoweth not of, a u life which is hid with 
Christ in God" God is continually breathing, as it 
were, upon the soul, and his soul is breathing unto 
God. Grace is descending into his heart, and prayer 
and praise ascending to heaven. And by this inter- 
course between God and man, this fellowship with 
the Father and the Son, as by a kind of spiritual re- 
spiration, the life of God in the soul is sustained : 
and the child of God grows up, till he comes to the 
? full measure of the stature of Christ." 



18 



REPRESENTATION OF 



From hence it manifestly appears, what is the na- 
ture of the new birth. It is that great change which 
God works in the soul, when he brings it into life ; 
when he raises it from the death of sin, to the life of 
righteousness. It is the change wrought in the whole 
soul by the Almighty Spirit of God, when it is " cre- 
ated anew in Christ Jesus," when it is "renewed after 
the image of God, in righteousness and true holi- 
ness f when the love of the world is changed into 
the love of God ; pride into humility ; passion into 
meekness ; hatred, envy, malice, into a sincere, ten- 
der, disinterested love for all mankind. In a word, 
it is that change whereby the earthly, sensual, devil- 
ish mind, is turned into the " mind which was in 
Christ Jesus." This is the nature of the new birth, 
"So is every one that is born of the Spirit." 

Do you ask, how this Spirit is to be obtained ? We 
answer, " Ask and ye shall receive f u for if ye, being 
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, 
how much more shall your heavenly Father give his 
Holy Spirit to them who ask him ?" Try the faith- 
fulness of Gpd to his promise, and bring your offer- 
ing into his store-house and prove him therewith, 
and see if he will not pour out blessings until there 
be not room to contain them : for he will pour his 
Spirit upon thy seed, and his blessing upon thine off- 
spring. He will sprinkle clean water upon you, and 
from all your idols will he cleanse you. For every 
one that asketh receiveth ; and he that seeketh, find- 
eth. But ask in faith, and let your faith rest on the 
great atonement. For whatsoever ye ask in prayer, 
believing, ye shall receive. Ye shall receive it, for 
the mouth of God hath spoken it. 

Reader, let this, therefore, if you have not already 
experienced this inward work of God, be your con- 
tinual prayer, " Lord, add this to all thy blessings, 
let me be born again. Deny whatever thou pleasest, 
but deny not this, let me be born from, above. Take 



THE HEART OF MAN. 



19 



away whatsoever seemeth the good, — reputation, for- 
tune, friends, health. Only give me this, to be born of 
the Spirit. To be received among the children of 
God. Let me be born, " not of corruptible seed, but 
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and 
abideth for ever." And then let me daily " grow in 
grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ." 

Away, vain thoughts which lodge within. 

Nor farther now proceed ; 
How should I longer live in sin, 

Who unto sin am dead '? 

A new and holy life I live, 

And fashion'd to His death, 
His resurrection's pow'r receive, 

And by his spirit breathe. 

For ever be his name ador'd 

For what I have receiv'd. 
I have embrac'd the gospel word, 

And with my heart believ'd. 

Jesus can to the utmost save ; 

On Jesus I depend ; 
My fruit to holiness I have, 

And shall in glory end. 



Thou, Lord, hast blest my going out, 

O bless my coming in ! 
Compass my weakness round about, 

And keep me safe from sin. 

Still hide me in thy secret place, 

Thy tabernacle spread; 
Shelter me with preserving grace, 

And screen my naked head. 

To thee for refuge may I run, 
From sin's alluring snare : 

Ready its first approach to shun, 
And watching unto prayer. 

Fix my new heart on things above, 
And then from earth release ; 
I ask not life, but let me love, 
And lay me down in peace. 



20 



REPRESENTATION OP 



FIGURE IV. 

Picture of a heart after conversion, who is determined to 
know nothing but Christ and him crucified. 

In the room of those frightful creatures, which 
used to inhabit his breast, you will now find engra- 
ven in his heart, some of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, 
namely, peace, joy, long-suffering, gentleness, good- 
ness, &c. 

The eye is here represented as being open, the soul 
now fully sees what is the will of the Lord concern- 
ing him, and is striving to do it. 

In this plate of the heart, we see the Dove signify- 
ing the Holy Spirit, abiding, and representing, that 
this soul is holding fast the beginning of his confi- 
dence in God, and while so doing the Devil must flee 
before the Spirit of God. The Angel is close by to 
guard, and protect, and encourage him to steadfast- 
ness, and perseverance in believing. As the apostle 
Paul says, now abideth Faith, Hope, Charity, or 
(Love,) and the greatest of these is charity, so his 
soul is pressing on to know the Lord, whom to know 
is life eternal. 

The language of a heart in this state cries out with 
the apostle Paul, I determine to know nothing among 
men, but Christ and him crucified ; God forbid, that 
I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and 
I unto the world. 1 Cor. ii. 2 ; Gal. vi. 14. The 
whole bent of his mind is aspiring for more of a con- 
formity to the will of God in all things. O that I 
were more like my Saviour, his constant theme is 
breathing after holiness, without which no man shall 



THE HEART OF MAN. 



2 



see the Lord. He takes hold on the promises of Goa 
to him, " Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after 
righteousness, for they shall he filled." "If we con- 
fess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our 
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' 7 
Having therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let 
us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh, 
and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 
Cor. vi. 1. He rejoices when he suffers reproach, 
affliction, temptation, distress, adversity, or persecu- 
tion for righteousness' sake, none of these things move 
him, for what shall harm him if he follow that which 
is good, knowing that if he suffers with his master 
here, he shall also reign with him. He takes en- 
couragement to go on the even tenor of his w r ay, 
trusting that these light afflictions which are but for 
a moment, shall work out for him a far more exceed- 
ing, and eternal weight of glory, if he is faithful to the 
grace given. This one thing I do, forgetting those 
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto 
those things which are before ; I press toward the 
mark, for the prize of the high calling of God, in 
Christ Jesus. Phil. iii. 13, 14. This great gift of God, 
the salvation of his soul, is no other than the image 
of God fresh stamped on his heart. It is a renewal 
in the spirit of our minds after the likeness of him that 
created them ; God has now laid the axe unto the 
root of the tree, purifying his heart, by faith, and 
cleansing all the thoughts of his heart by the inspira- 
tion of his Holy Spirit. Having this hope, that he 
shall see God as he is, he purifies himself even as he 
is pure ; and is holy, even as he that hath called him 
is holy, in all manner of conversation. Not that he 
has already attained all that he shall attain, either is 
already perfect. But he daily £ goes on from strength 
to strength beholding now as in a glass, the glory of 
the Lord, he is changed into the same image, from 
glory to glory, by the spirit of the Lord. He has to 



22 



REPRESENTATION OF 



watch unto prayer, for the Devil is still his adversa- 
ry, and goeth about seeking- whom he may devour. 
While seeking for the fulness of God, he cries out, 

O that I now the rest may know, 

Believe and enter in ; 
Now Saviour, now the power bestow, 

And let me cease from sin. 

Remove this hardness from my heart, 

This unbelief remove ; 
To me the rest of faith impart, 

The sabbath of thy Love. - 

Come Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 

And seal me thine abode ! 
Let all I am in thee be lost ; 

Let all be lost in God. 

He enjoys, and exemplifies by his life, the wisdom 
that is from above, which comes from God, and 
teaches us to be humble and holy in all our conver- 
sation. Jas. hi. 17. It is known and expressed by 
several properties : it is pure, it makes him careful to 
avoid any defilement by sin and error, and to adhere 
both to truth and holiness. It is peaceable, it dispo- 
seth him to peace, both as the making and keeping it, 
so far as is consistent with purity, and may be done 
without sin. It is gentle, it disposes him to bear with 
the infirmities of others, to forgive injuries, to inter- 
pret all things for the best, to recede from his own 
right for peace sake. It is easy to be entreated, it 
makes him yield to the persuasions of the word, to 
good counsel, good reason. It is full of mercy, it 
causes him to pity others that are afflicted, or that 
offend. It is full of good fruits, of beneficence, libe- 
rality, and all other offices of humanity, which pro- 
ceed from mercy. It is vnthout partiality, he does 
not make a difference between person and person, 
upon carnal accounts. It is also loithout hypocrisy 
or counterfeiting, as they do that judge others, being 
guilty of the same things themselves j he is unfeigned 
and sincere. 



THE HEART OF MAN. 



23 



If you would be established in Christian holiness, 
it will be necessary for you to believe, without waver- 
ing, the love . of God towards you in Jesus Christ. 
" We have known," said the beloved disciple, " and 
believed, the love that God hath to us ; for God is 
love.' 7 Frequently meditate upon the price paid for 
your redemption ; the long continued efforts of the 
Spirit, to bring you from the ways of sin ; the bless- 
ings you have received, and are every hour receiving 
from above, and the prospects before you. Consider 
these things as the Spirit may lead you ; and then 
ask yourself, What am I, or what my father's house, 
that thou art so mindful of such an unworthy crea- 
ture ? Look at his condescension and beneficence 
till you are ashamed to doubt. It is he that hath 
wrought this work of sanctification In your soul, and 
it is his good pleasure to bring you to his everlasting 
kingdom. As long as you firmly believe this, no fear 
can come near to harm you. While you see and 
know that the Lord with his " great and strong sword," 
rises against the "piercing, crooked serpent," and 
against all your enemies, from the great love where- 
with he loveth you, nothing can make you afraid. 
And the stronger your confidence is in Him, the bet- 
ter will he be pleased with you and your services. 

As you must thus believe in what the Lord has 
wrought in you, if you would not be robbed of it ; so 
you must strive to live every moment by faith in your 
crucified Redeemer for what you want. " The life 
which I now live in the flesh," said St. Paul, " I live 
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and 
gave himself for me." Christ is the proper object of 
your faith. All your blessings are derived from him, 
and faith must be considered as the hand that receives 
them. Your soul must feed upon him ; you must 
spiritually eat his flesh, and drink his blood. With- 
out it there can be no increase of spiritual life. If you 
would receive the benefits of his merit and interces- 



24 



REPRESENTATION OF 



sion, it mast be by faith. All the advantages arising 
from the offices he has taken upon himself for you 
must be obtained in the same way. Hence you see 
the necessity of continually looking at Jesus. By 
faith the ancient worthies obtained the promises of 
their dispensation ; and by faith you must expect the 
accomplishment of all the promises of the new cove- 
nant. By faith you must overcome the world, quench 
the fiery darts of the devil, and put to flight the temp- 
tations, sins, and vanities which surround you. Faith 
that works by love is the spring of obedience. It will 
enable you to give up your all to God, and to expect 
all from him. it will deliver you from anxious 
thoughts concerning futurity : you will be assisted to 
cast your care upon him, and in every thing, by 
prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, to make 
your requests known to him ; and his peace, which 
passeth understanding, shall keep your heart and mind 
in Christ Jesus. By faith you have access to the grace 
in which you now stand ; and every fresh supply 
must be obtained in the same way. In short, faith is 
an excellent gift of God ; and, if it be scripturally 
used, cannot be used too much. The faith that is 
here recommended is productive of all good works. 
Live, then, by the moment in Him who is "the 
Truth, the Life, and the Way;" and you shall prove 
the faithfulness of God, and be strengthened for every 
good word and work. The faith that produces this, 
gives all the honour to Him to whom it is due, and 
takes nothing to itself ; which appears to be the rea- 
son why the Lord pots such honour upon it. He that 
thus believes shall never be confounded. Though at 
first his appearance may be only as the dawning of 
the day, he soon shall be as "the sun when he goeth 
forth in his might," 

Reader ! hast thou been converted from the error 
of thy ways, hast thou known the love of God that 
passeth all understanding, if so, art thou pressing on 



THE HEART OF MAN. 



25 



to obtain all the fulness of God ? Search and inquire 
with holy fear, and with the greater diligence, whe- 
ther you desire to love him with all your heart. Have 
you chosen him for your eternal portion, both in this 
world and that which is to come ? Is your will firmly 
resolved for God and religion ? Are you willing to 
forsake every sin? If you find these things wrought 
in you and done by you, you have abundant reason 
to take comfort in this evidence of your Christianity 
and love to God. 

Blest are the humble souls that see 
Their emptiness and poverty : 
Treasures of grace to them are given, 
And crowns of joy laid up in heav'n. 

Blest are the men of broken heart, 
Who mourn for sin with inward smart ; 
The blood of Christ divinely flows, 
A healing balm for all our woes. 

Blest are the meek who stand afar 
From rage and passion, noise and war ; 
God will secure their happy state, 
And plead their cause against the great. 

Blest are the souls that thirst for grace, 
Hunger and long for righteousness ! 
They shall be well supplied and fed 
With living streams and living bread. 

Blest are the men whose bowels move, 
And melt with sympathy and love : 
From Christ the Lord they shall obtain 
Like sympathy and love again. 

Blest are the pure whose hearts are clean 
From the defiling power of sin : 
With endless pleasures they shall see 
A God of spotless purity. 

Blest are the men of peaceful life, 
Who quench the coals of growing strife: 
They shall be calPd the heirs of bliss, 
The sons of God, the God of peace. 

Blest are the sufT'rers who partake 
Of pain and shame for Jesus' sake : 
Their souls shall triumph in the Lord, 
Glory and joy are their reward. 

3 



26 



REPRESENTATION OF 



FIGURE V. 

Picture of the heart of a person who is sanctified to God t 
and filled u*ith perfect love. 

In the picture of this heart, we see the situation of 
a man sanctified, and filled with perfect love to God 
and man. 

" The eyes of your understanding being enlight- 
ened ; that ye may know what is the hope of his call- 
ing, and what the riches of the glory of his inherit- 
ance in the saints." Eph. i. 18. 

The Dove, signifying the Holy Spirit, has taken up 
his abode in this heart, and is shedding forth light, 
life, and joy. The Holy Bible is seen there, signify- 
ing, that he has taken that as the man of his counsel, 
and from this treasure, to gather his weapons of spi- 
ritual warfare, against the world, the flesh, and the 
devil. In this sacred volume, he sees every thing 
necessary to guide both his faith and practice. There 
the precious promises of a faithful God are registered 
for his comfort, with many a glorious view of the 
almighty Promiser. And his motto is holiness to the 
Lord. The Angel is still about this happy soul, and 
in his hand holding an Olive Branch, signifying, great 
peace have they that love thy law, and nothing shall 
offend them. 

" The pure in heart" are they, whose hearts God hath 
" purified even as he is pure who are purified through 
faith in the blood of Jesus, from every unholy affection ; 
who being " cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and 
spirit, perfect holiness in the (loving) fear of God." 
They are, through the power of his grace, purified from 
pride, by the deepest poverty of spirit ; from anger, 
from every unkind or turbulent passion, by meekness 



THE HEART OP MAN. 



27 



and gentleness ; from every desire but to please and 
enjoy God, to know and love him, more and more, by 
that hunger and thirst after righteousness, which now 
engrosses their whole soul ; so that now they love the 
'Lord their God, with all their heart, and with all their 
soul, and mind, and strength. 

Such is the purity of heart which God requires, 
and works on those who believe on the Son of his 
love. And blessed are they who are thus pure in 
heart, for they shall see God. He will " manifest 
himself unto them," not only " as he doth not unto 
the world," but as he doth not always to his own chil- 
dren. He will bless them with the clearest communi- 
cations of his spirit, the most intimate "fellowship 
with the Father and with the Son." He will cause 
his presence to go continually before them, and the 
light of his countenance to shine upon them. It is 
the ceaseless prayer of their heart, " I beseech thee, 
show me thy glory :" and they have the petition they 
ask of him. They now see him by faith, (the veil of 
flesh being made, as it were, transparent,) even in 
these his lowest works, in all that surrounds them, in 
all that God has created and made. They see him in 
the height above, and in the depth beneath ; they see 
him filling all in all. 

The pure in heart see all things full of God. They 
see him in the firmament of heaven, in the moon, 
walking in brightness, in the sun, when he rejoices 
as a giant to run his course. They see him making 
the clouds his chariots, and walking upon the "wings 
of the wind." They see him " preparing rain for the 
earth, and blessing the increase of it : giving grass 
for the cattle, and green herb for the use of man." 
They see the Creator of all, wisely governing all, and 
" upholding all things by the word of his power." " O 
Lord ! our governor ! how excellent is thy name in 
all the world !" 

In all his providences relating to themselves, to 



28 



REPRESENTATION OF 



their souls, or bodies, the pure in heart do more 
particularly see God. They see his hand ever over 
them for good ; giving them all things in weight and 
measure, numbering the hairs of their head, making 
a hedge round about them, and all that they have, 
and disposing all the circumstances of their life, ac- 
cording to the depth of his wisdom and mercy. 

But in a more especial manner they see God in his 
ordinances. Whether they appear in the great con- 
gregation, to "pay him the honour due unto his name, 
and worship him in the beauty of holiness or " enter 
into their closets," and there pour out their souls before 
their " Father which is in secret whether they 
search the oracles of God, or hear the ambassadors of 
Christ proclaiming glad tidings of salvation ; or by 
eating of the bread, and drinking of that cup, "show 
forth his death till he come" in the clouds of heaven : 
in all his appointed ways, they find such a near ap- 
proach as cannot be expressed. They see him, as it 
were, face to face, and " talk with him, as a man talk- 
eth with his friend a fit preparation for those man- 
sions above, wherein they shall see him as he is. 

The Lord has graciously promised this great 
blessing ; and what he has promised he will surely 
make good to you, " with all his heart and all his 
soul." Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after 
righteousness, for they shall be filled — Blessed is the 
man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in 
whose spirit there is no guile. The eternal God is 
thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms : 
and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee ; 
and shall say, Destroy them. — I will pour water upon 
him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground ; 
I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing 
upon thy offspring. — I will sprinkle clean water upon 
you, and ye shall be clean : from all your filthiness 7 
and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new 
heart also will I give you ; and a new spirit will I 



THE HEART OF MAN. 



29 



put within you : and I will take away the stony 
heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart 
of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you. and 
cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep 
my judgments and do them. — I will also save you 
from all your uncleannesses. — He shall save his peo- 
ple from their sins. — He will baptise you with the 
Holy Ghost and with fire.' 5 

Thou, Lord, on whom I still depend, 
Shalt keep me faithful to the end ; 
I trust thy truth, and love, and pow'r, 
Shall save me till my latest hour ; 

And when I lay this body down, 
Reward with an immortal crown ! 
Jesus, in thy great name I go, 
To conquer death, my final foe. 

And when I quit this cumb'rous clay, 
And soar on eagle's wings away, 
My soul the second death defies, 
And reigns eternal in the skies. 

Eye hath not seen, nor ear hath heard, 
What Christ hath for his saints prepaid, 
Who conquer through their Saviour's might— 
Who rise into perfection's height. 

Dost thou desire to know or see, 
What thy mysterious name shall be 1 
Receiving thy new name unknown, 
Thou read'st it wrote on the white stone. 



Then trample death beneath thy feet. 
And gladly die thy Lord to meet ; 
Contending for thy heavenly home, 
Thy latest foe in death o'ercome. 



3* 



30 



REPRESENTATION OF 



FIGURE VI. 

Picture of a heart enjoying perfect love to God and 
man, and resisting the temptations of the Devil, with the 
marks and fruits of holiness. 

In this picture of the heart, .we see the angel still 
encouraging the soul of such a man. with the precious 
promises of God to perseverance and faithfulness ; also 
is seen, the Scriptures which are read by him ; and the 
Dove, signifying the Holy Spirit ; the vine of grapes, 
signifies fruit ; the Devils are waiting round, present 
ing temptations, but this soul is steadfastly resisting, 
and therefore is not overcome. "Sin and Satan find no 
entrance into this temple of love and peace ! Outward 
storms cannot shake its foundation, for its graces are 
built upon the rock of ages." 

The eye of his understanding continues open, and 
looking upwards, having for its object the Lord Jesus 
Christ, he steadily keeps looking by faith on him 
whom his soul loves with a pure heart fervently. 

It is very necessary that the evidence should be 
added to the work of sanctification, that he who has 
experienced that work may have the enjoyment of it. 
Without this, he would be like a person who should 
have a large estate fall to him : but being ignorant of 
it, could not have the enjoyment and use of it, as 
though he knew it. The evidence of sanctification 
may be compared to the key stone which binds and 
strengthens an arch, or to the last touches of the 
pencil, which give a polish to the fair picture. We 
may suppose the work of sanctification, or cleansing 
from sin, to exist without the evidence, or to be dis- 
tinct from it : but it would be manifestly unsafe foi 
any one to rest without it. 



THE HEART OF MAN. 



31 



The fruits of the Spirit, are those gracious habits 
which the Holy Spirit of God produces in those in 
whom he dwelleth and worketh, with those acts 
which flow from them as naturally as the tree pro- 
duces its fruit. The apostle enumerates these fruits, 
in Gal. v. 22, 23. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, 
both to God and our neighbours ; joy, or a delight in 
God, arising from a sense of our interest in him ; 
peace with God, quietude of conscience, and a peace- 
able disposition towards men, as opposed to strife, 
variance, emulation, &c. Long-suffering, patiently 
bearing, and forgiving many provocations and inju- 
ries ; this is opposed to a hastiness to revenge ; gen- 
tleness, or an affableness, an easiness to be entreated, 
when any one has wronged us ; goodness, kindness, 
friendliness, or readiness to do good to others ; faith, 
or faithfulness, to speak nothing but the truth, and to 
perform all our engagements ; meekness, forbearance 
of passion, rash anger, and hastiness of spirit : and 
temperance, or a curbing of all carnal desires, and a 
sparing use of all sensual delights. 

It is true, many have thought they had the evidence 
of sanctification when they had it not, and have 
brought dishonour upon the profession of it. This 
was because they knew not what the evidence is. 
They judged by false marks. They had received a 
large measure of love, and were exceedingly joyful ; 
and took these for an evidence of sanctification. Per- 
haps some, on slighter grounds still, have believed 
themselves sanctified. — But it is not great love and 
joy, no, nor the feeling no sin added thereto, that will 
prove a person thoroughly sanctified ; because it is 
often the case that all these unite in the justified state. 
Where love and joy are, the motions of sin are, for the 
time being, suspended, though it remains in the heart. 

The evidence of sanctification is two-fold, and re- 
sults, First, from the witness of the Spirit of God ; 
andj Secondly, from the nature of the work. 



32 



REPRESENTATION OF 



First. From the witness of the Spirit of God. " We 
can know that we are sanctified no otherwise than 
we know we are justified. " Hereby know we that we 
are of God," in either sense, " by the Spirit he hath 
given us." We know it by the "witness of the Spirit." 
As when we were justified, " the Spirit bore witness 
with our spirit," that our sins were forgiven ; so when 
we were sanctified, he bore witness that they were 
taken away. Indeed, the witness of sanctification is 
not always clear at first, (as neither is that of justifi- 
cation ;) neither is it afterwards always the same, but 
like that of justification, sometimes stronger and some- 
times fainter. Yea, and sometimes it is withdrawn. 
Yet, in general, the latter testimony of the Spirit is 
both as clear and as steady as that of the former. 

"In 'the hour of temptation Satan clouds the work 
of God and injects various doubts and reasonings, 
especially in those who have either very weak or very 
strong understandings. At such times there is abso- 
lute need of that witness ; without which the work 
of sanctification not only could not be discerned, but 
could not subsist. Were it not for this, the soul could 
not then abide in the love of God ; much less could it 
rejoice evermore, and in every thing give thanks. In 
these circumstances, therefore, a direct testimony that 
we are sanctified, is necessary in the highest degree. 
And the following Scriptures give reason to expect 
it : " We have received not the spirit of the world, 
but the Spirit which is of God, that we may know 
the things which are freely given to us of God." 1 
Cor. ii. 12. 

"Now surely sanctification is one of the things 
which are freely given to us of God. And no possi- 
ble reason can be assigned, why this should be ex- 
cepted, when the apostle says, c We receive the Spi- 
xitffor this very e?id, 6 that we may know the things 
which are thus freely given us.' 

" Is not the same thing implied in that well known 



THE HEART OP MAN. 



33 



Scripture, Rom. viii. 16, ' the Spirit itself beareth wit- 
ness with our spirit that we are the children of God.' 
Does he only witness this to those who are children 
of God in the lowest sense ? Nay, but to those also 
who are such in the highest sense. And does he not 
witness that they are such in the highest sense? 
What reason have we to doubt it ? 

" Consider likewise, 1 John, v. 19. 1 We know that 
we are of God. 5 How ? 1 By the Spirit that he hath 
given us. J 1 John, iii. 24. Nay, ' hereby we know 
that he abideth in us.' And what ground have we 
either from Scripture or reason, to exclude the witness 
any more than the fruit of the Spirit from being here 
intended ? By this, then, also vje know that v;e are 
of God, and in what sense we are so. Whether we 
are babes, young men, or fathers, we know in the 
same manner. 

" Not that I affirm that all young men, or even 
fathers, have this testimony every moment ; there may 
be intermission of the direct testimony that they are 
thus born of God. But these intermissions are fewer 
and shorter as they grow up in Christ. And some have 
the testimony both of their justification and sanctifi- 
cation, without any intermission at all : which I pre- 
sume more might have, did they walk as humbly and 
closely with God as they may." 

Secondly. The evidence of sanctification results 
from the nature of that state. And here two things 
may be noticed, the absence of sin, and the fruits of 
the Spirit. 

1. The absence of sin. In the work of sanctifica- 
tion there is such a change wrought in all the affec- 
tions and tempers of the mind, as effectually to do 
away every root of bitterness, every evil propensity. 
Here let the person who would ascertain his true 
state, take into view the process of the work he has 
experienced. Has he had a clear discovery of the 
depravity of his nature ? Has he seen and lamented 



84 



REPRESENTATION OF 



his unlikeness to God — his proneness to wander 
from God in his thoughts, words, tempers and ac- 
tions ? Has he seen and bewailed the stubbornness 
of his will, the hardness of his heart, his remaining 
unbelief, pride, anger, impatience, and a thousand 
evils of his nature ? Has he fled from himself to the 
Saviour for help ? And has he obtained help against 
all these ? Has the Lord Jehovah come to his relief? 
Are the evils under which he groaned, gone ? He 
says, I feel them not. But are they entirely destroy- 
ed, or only suspended ? Here let him ask whether a 
sufficient length of time has elapsed since he felt 
them, to give them an opportunity to show them- 
selves. In particular, have those occasions and trials 
occurred which used to excite them ? And is there 
no sense of self-will, self-applause, anger, impatience, 
&c, but, on the contrary, 2. all the fruits of the 
Spirit ; love, joy, peace, always abiding ; — long-suf- 
fering, patience, resignation: — gentleness, triumph 
mg over all provocation ; — goodness, mildness, sweet- 
ness, tenderness of spirit ]— fidelity, simplicity, godly 
sincerity ; — meekness, calmness, evenness of spirit; — 
temperance, not only in food and drink, but in all 
things temporal and spiritual ? If I say, there are no 
motions of sin, but all the fruits of the Spirit con- 
tinually present in the soul, then there is good reason 
to believe the work of sanctification is accomplished. 
But still this cannot be certainly known without the 
direct witness of the Spiri t : that is, it cannot be cer- 
tainly known that all sin is destroyed, and all the 
fruits of the Spirit are in the soul. As was observed 
above, Satan will at times so becloud the work of the 
Spirit by his temptations, as to create a doubt of the 
existence of this or that fruit of the Spirit. So, on the 
other hand, will sometimes accuse the child of God 
that he has sinned, that he has indulged some sinful 
desire or propensity : and he cannot always distin- 
guish between temptation and sin, unless he has the 
direct witness of the Spirit, 



THE HEART OP MAN. 



35 



" In some cases," says Mr. Wesley, " it is impossi- 
ble to distinguish without the direct witness of the 
Spirit. But in general, one may distinguish thus : 

H One commends me. Here is a temptation to 
pride ; but instantly my soul is humbled before God, 
and I feel no pride : of which I am as sure as I am 
that pride is not humility. 

" A man strikes me. Here is a temptation to anger. 
But my heart overflows with love, and I feel no an- 
ger at all ; of which I am as sure as I am that love 
and anger are not the same. 

" Thus it is if I am tempted by a present object ; 
and it is just the same, if, when it is absent, the devil 
recalls a commendation, an injury, &c. to my mind. 
In the instant the soul repels the temptation, and re- 
mains filled with pure love. 

" And the difference is still plainer when I compare 
my present state with my past, wherein I felt tempta- 
tion and corruption too." 

But still there will be many cases in which the 
child of God will not be able to distinguish without 
the direct witness of the Holy Spirit. And such a 
cause is a painful one. It is painful to lie under an 
accusation of having offended God, and not know 
but it is true. And this is not only a case of pain, but 
of danger. There is danger of his losing his confi- 
dence, becoming perplexed, and falling into darkness, 
if not into despair and open sin. 

The witness of the Spirit is therefore to be very 
highly esteemed, and diligently sought after ; and 
knowing that it is the will of God that we should 
have it, we may come boldly r , and ask and receive^ 
that oar joy may be full. 

Be careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit, by which 
you are sealed to the day of redemption. The more- 
he has done for you, the more studious you should 
be to please him. You should attend to every com- 
mand, and observe every duty. The least violation 



36 



REPRESENTATION OF 



of the law of love, through indifference or neglect, 
the least rejection or misimprovement of grace, is dis- 
pleasing to him. An unguarded word, or an impro- 
per thought or temper, will be sufficient to bring a 
cloud upon your mind, weaken your desires after 
higher attainments, sensibly damp your fervour, and 
cause you grief and dissatisfaction. There must be 
close walking with your Lord, if you intend to have 
the witness that you please him ; for he has no plea- 
sure in foolishness. You are a steward, not a pro- 
prietor, of your Lord's goods. He will come at last 
and reckon with you. You are accountable to him 
for time ^ privileges, talents, mercies, kelps, and op- 
portunities. Aim to be altogether a Christian. Fol- 
low the apostle's advice : " Giving all diligence, add 
to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to 
knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, 
and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly 
kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity." Let 
your eye be single, doing all as unto the Lord ; and 
the Spiri t of holiness will not fail to comfort, strength- 
en, and direct your soul. 

Study the Scriptures. That blessed book carries 
its own evidence along with it, and you will find its 
excellences continually increasing upon your view. 
You will there trace the characters of the saints — 
their virtues and defects, and the graces for which 
they were most eminent. By this means you may 
learn how to distrust yourself, and trust to the Lord ; 
how to avoid their weaknesses, and the rocks against 
which some of them struck ; and how to glorify God 
by the strictest conformity to his will. 

There you may trace, through successive ages, the 
power and providence of God towards his people, the 
support afforded them in trouble, the deliverances 
wrought for them, and the miserable end of their 
enemies and persecutors. 

You may there behold the once happy state of 



THE HEART OP MAN. 



3T 



man, the effects of his rebellion, the divine procedure 
in his restoration, together with the innumerable wit- 
nesses of his power to save to the uttermost. 

In this unsullied mirror, a steady faith may appre- 
hend the distant splendours of the everlasting habita- 
tions : and, for the quickening of your diligence, it 
affords a view of the infernal pit, the abode of devils, 
and of all that denied " the Lord that bought them," 
or " received his grace in vain." 

Your Lord has commanded you to search the 
Scriptures. They are able to make you wise unto 
salvation, through faith in him. They were given 
u by inspiration of God, and are profitable for doc- 
trine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in 
righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, 
thoroughly furnished unto all good works." What- 
ever books you read, let the Bible be one. Meditate 
therein, till its end is answered in your complete sal- 
vation. 

Lord, how secure and blest are they 
Who feel the joys of pardon'd sin ! 

Should storms of wrath shake earth and sea, 
Their minds have heav'n and peace within. 

The day glides sweetly o'er their heads, 
Made up of innocence and love ; 

And soft and silent as the shades, 

Their nightly minutes gently move. 

Ctuick as their thoughts their joys come on, 

But fly not half so swift away : 
Their souls are ever bright as noon, 

And calm as summer evenings be. 

How oft they look to th' heav'nly hills, 

Where groves of living pleasure grow ! 
And longing hopes, and cheerful smiles, 
Sit undisturb'd upon their brow. 

They scorn to seek our golden toys, 

But spend the day, and share the night, 
In numb'ring o'er the richer joys 
That heav'n prepares for their delight, 

4 



88 



REPRESENTATION OP 



FIGURE VIL 

Picture of the heart of a person, whose spiritual life 
has in a measure become dead, and who is beginning to 
backslide. 

In this heart you merely see the Cross, signifying 
there is yet some regard for Christ, and an outward 
profession of his religion, while Satan is by degrees 
entering into his old habitation. The eye of his un- 
derstanding now begins to close on things spiritual, 
and the carnal eye of his mind is awake, and begins 
to look on the world with a desire to enjoy the same. 
The Holy Spirit, represented in this plate by the 
angel, is not willing to leave, is entreating him to be 
watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, 
that are ready to die ; I would that thou wert either 
cold or hot, for I have not found thy works perfect 
before God. Remember, therefore, how thou hast 
received and heard ; and hold fast and repent. 

There can be no point of greater importance to him 
who knows that it is the Holy Spirit which leads us 
into all truth and into all holiness, than to consider 
with what temper of soul we are to entertain his 
Divine Presence, so as neither to drive him from us, 
or to disappoint him of the gracious ends for which 
his abode with us is designed, which is not the 
amusement of our understanding, but the conversion 
and entire sanctification of our hearts and lives. 

The words of the apostle contain a most serious 
and affectionate exhortation to this purpose, " Grieve 
not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed to 
the day of redemption." 

We are said to grieve the Holy Spirit by our sins, 
because of his immediate presence with us. They are 



THE HEART OP MAN. 



39 



more directly committed under his eye, and are, 
therefore, more highly offensive to him. He is pleased 
to look upon professing Christians as more peculiarly 
separated to his honour : nay, we are so closely united 
to him, that we are said to be " one spirit with him," 
and, therefore, every sin which we now commit, be- 
sides its own proper guilt, carries in it a fresh and 
infinitely high provocation. " Know ye not your own 
selves," saith St. Paul, "that your bodies are the tem- 
ples of the Holy Ghost ?" And how are they so, but 
by his inhabitation and ultimate presence with our 
souls. When, therefore, we set up the idols of earthly 
inclinations in our hearts, (which are properly his 
altar,) and bow down ourselves to serve those vicious 
passions, which we ought to sacrifice to his will, this 
must needs be, in the highest degree, offensive and 
grievous to him. " For what concord is there between 
the Holy Spirit and Belial ? Or what agreement hath 
the temple of God with idols P 

We grieve the Holy Spirit by our sins, because 
they are so many contempts of the highest expression 
of his love, and disappoint him in his last remedy, 
whereby he is pleased to endeavour our recovery. 
And thus every sin we now commit is done in despite 
of ail his powerful assistances, in defiance of his 
reproofs: an ungrateful return for infinite loving- 
kindness. 

But if arguments of this kind are not strong enough 
to keep us from grieving our best friend, the Holy 
Spirit of God, let us consider that by this ungrateful 
conduct, we shall provoke him to withdraw from us. 

And the more frequently we offend him, the more 
we weaken his influences in our souls. For frequent 
breaches will necessarily occasion estrangement be- 
tween us ; and it is impossible that our intercourse 
with him can be cordial, when it is disturbed by re- 
peated interruptions. So a man will forgive his friend 
a great many imprudences, and some wilful trans- 



40 



REPRESENTATION OF 



gressions ; but to find him frequently affronting him, 
all his kindness will wear off by degrees, and the 
warmth of his affection, even towards him who had 
once the greatest share of it, will die away ; as he 
cannot but think that such a one does not any longer 
either desire, or deserve to maintain a friendship 
with him. 

There are many persons^ who, in the main of their 
lives, are regular in their conversation, and observe 
the means of improvement, and attend upon the holy 
sacrament with exactness, who yet, in the intervals of 
their duties, give too great liberty to their thoughts, 
affections, and discourse ; they seem to adjourn the 
great business of salvation to the next hour of devo- 
tion. If these professors lose so much in their spirit- 
ual estate for want of adjusting and balancing their 
accounts, what then must we think of those who 
scarce ever bestow a serious thought upon their eter- 
nal welfare ? Surely, there is not any temper of mind 
less a friend to the spirit of religion than a thought- 
less and inconsiderate one, that by a natural succes- 
sion of strong and vain affections, shuts out every 
thing useful from their souls, till at length they are 
overtaken by a fatal lethargy ; they lose sight of all 
danger, and become insensible of divine convictions ; 
and, in consequence, quite disappoint all the blessed 
means of restoration. If, therefore, we measure the 
Holy Spirit's concern at the sins of men by the de- 
grees of his disappointment, we may conclude, that 
there is no state of mind that grieves him more r un- 
less that of actual wickedness. 

Never be easy, or at rest, therefore, if you find your 
love to God flag and languish ; for then the other af- 
fections will grow cold and lifeless in religion. Watch 
carefully against the too strong attachment of your 
affections to creatures. Remember that this world is 
at enmity with God. James, iv. 4. " If any man love 
the world, the love of the Father is not in him." X 



THE HEART OF MAN. 



41 



John, ii. 15. Where the love of the world is habitu- 
ally prevalent, the love of God is not found ; for God 
is the supreme good, and the most lovely of beings, 
and he counts that love as nothing which is not su- 
preme. " No man can serve two masters, you cannot 
serve God and mammon." Matt. vi. 25. That is the 
true God, and the god of riches ; and we may say by 
the same rule, you cannot love the true God, and the 
god of honour and ambition, or the god of sensuality 
and carnal pleasure. A God carries a supreme idea, 
and demands all the soul. 

Not only unlawful objects, and sinful pleasures, 
but even sensible delights, possessions, and enjoy- 
ments, which are lawful, take too fast hold on the 
heart, and draw it away from God. Remember that 
the creatures around you have this advantage, that 
while God is a spirit, an unseen being, the creatures 
are ever striking upon our eyes or ears ; they are ever 
making their court to our senses and appetites, and 
have a thousand ways to insinuate themselves into 
the heart. The world, and the flattering enjoyments 
of it, are suited to work upon flesh and blood, and to 
draw off the soul from God, its centre and its rest : 
they are ever near at hand on all occasions, and they 
are ready sometimes to say, " Where is your God ?" 
Keep your God therefore always near you, and watch 
against the pleasing flattery of alluring creatures, lest 
your heart cleave too fast to them, and be thereby 
divided from your God. 

Reader, is thy soul in such a state as my picture 
represents? If so, I would ask thee what are the 
causes which produce this effect? Has not p?Hde had 
too much place in your heart ? Have you not some- 
times been ready to think yourself possessed of more 
religion than you really had ? And have you riot 
been in danger of thinking more highly of yourself 
on account of this your piety, and of undervaluing 
others to the feeding of your own vanity? Have you 



42 



REPRESENTATION OF 



not often set too great a value upon your person, gifts, 
and abilities ? Can you enumerate the vain thoughts 
which have lodged within you ? Have you not in 
many things (and those of no great moment) been too 
stiff and opinionated ? Have you not gloried too 
much in your friends, relations, and possessions? 
Have you not occasionally made too splendid a show 
of your natural, spiritual, and intellectual riches or 
gifts ? Has not finer or better apparel made you look 
for more respect from others, or think much more 
highly of yourself ? Has not this subtle pride mixed 
itself with your secret thoughts, your conversations 
with your friends, and even your devotional exer- 
cises ? To follow this evil through all its aspirings, 
boastings., inventions., conceits, arrogance, and scorn- 
fulness, would be difficult indeed. How true, then, is 
that saying, " A man's pride shall bring him low f 
for so long as the heart is not purified from this evil, 
it cannot be advanced high in the estimation of 
heaven? 

Have you not felt also much of the workings of 
unbelief, as another cause ? After the clearest and 
most delightful discoveries of your Redeemer's love, 
have you not been ready to question it ? Would not 
something in your heart, if submitted to, cause you 
to discredit many of the revealed truths of God? 
Have you not been too apt to distrust others, placing 
less confidence in them than you aught though you 
had not the least reason for so doing ? Are you not 
sometimes inclined to doubt the care of Divine Provi- 
dence, and to fear that you will one day be forgotten 
of God ? Have you not sometimes been ready to 
question the being or attributes of God, — the truth of 
the Christian dispensation, — and the reality of grace 
in your own heart ? 

While unbelief thus lurks in the heart, will it not 
produce a most plentiful crop of doubts, fears, sup- 
positions, suspenses, unprofitable reasonings, fruit- 



THE HEART OF MAN. 



43 



less speculations, and idle and perplexing thoughts, 
till the precious grace of God is well nigh choked ; 
till peace and joy have well nigh taken their flight ; 
and the heart is filled with hardness, the tongue with 
complainings, and the life with unfruitfulness ? 

Whenever you find a tempting creature taking too 
fast hold of your passions, set a guard of sacred jea- 
lousy upon it ; keep your heart at a distance from 
that creature, lest it twine about your inmost powers, 
and draw them off from their allegiance and duty to 
God your Creator. The love of God is a flower of 
divine original, and of the growth of paradise : if the 
Holy Spirit has planted it in your heart, let not any 
other love be planted too near it, nor too much nour- 
ished, lest it draw away the vital moisture, and cause 
the love of God to languish and wither. 

Depth of mercy ! can there be 
Mercy still reserv'd for me 1 
Can my God his wrath forbear 1 
Me, the chief of sinners spare 1 

I have long withstood his grace ; 
Long provok'd him to his face ; 
Would not hearken to his calls ; 
Griev'd him by a thousand falls. 

Kindled his relentings are, 
Me he now delights to spare ; 
Cries, " How shall I give thee up V* 
Lets the lifted thunder drop. 

There for me the Saviour stands, 
Shows his wounds and spreads his hands; 
God is love ! I know r I feel ! 
Jesus weeps, and loves me stilL 

Jesus, answer from above, 
Is not all thy nature love 1 
Wilt thou not the wrong forget 1 
Suffer me to kiss thy feet 1 

Now incline me to repent t 
Let me now my fall lament ! 
Now my foul revolt deplore ! 
Weep, believe, and sin no more. 



44 



REPRESENTATION OP 



FIGURE V1IL 

Picture of the heart of a perso?iwho after his conversion 
has backslidden from God, and suffers Satan to reign in 
him. 

This heart cannot be better described than in our 
Lord's own words : " When the unclean spirit is gone 
out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking 
rest, and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my 
house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he 
findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and 
taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than 
himself ; and they enter in, and dwell there : and the 
last state of that man is worse than the first. Luke, 
xi. 24, 25, 26. Also, in the words of St. Peter : For 
if after they have escaped the pollution of the world 
through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Je- 
sus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and 
overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the 
beginning. For it had been better for them not to 
have known the way of righteousness, than after they 
have known it, to turn from the holy commandment 
delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them 
according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to 
his own vomit again ; and, The sow that was washed, 
to her wallowing in the mire. 2 Pet. ii. 20, 21, 22. 

The Holy Spirit is grieved, and has departed, the 
angel is about withdrawing, and with clasped and 
uplifted hands he cries, " How shall I give tbae 
up." 

This man did receive the " heavenly gift." He did 
" taste of the powers of the world to come." He saw 
K the light of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus 
Christ." The " peace which passeth all understand- 



. 1 r a. 



Mow shall I$ivA thee u/> 




Ferithad/heen betterfbrthem juxttoharc _ 
known the way ef righteousness than after 
they haw Jcrunm it totrnn away from _ 
the Ecly connnandmentdelivered unto them. 

2Tct.2.21 



THE HEART OF MAN. 



45 



ing," did rule his heart and mind: and the love of 
God was shed abroad therein by the Holy Ghost, 
which was given unto him." Yet he is now weak 
as another man. He again relishes the things of 
earth, and has more taste for the things which are 
seen, than for those which are not seen. The eye of 
his understanding is closed again, so that he cannot 
" see Him that is invisible." His love is waxed cold, 
and the peace of God no longer rules in his heart. 
And no marvel ; for he again has given place to the 
Devil, and grieved the Holy Spirit of God. He has 
turned again unto folly, to some pleasing sin, if not in 
outward act, yet in heart. He has given place to 
pride, anger, self-will, or stubbornness. He did not 
stir up the gift of God which was in him ; he gave 
way to spiritual sloth, and would not be at the pains 
of "praying always, and watching thereunto with all 
perseverance." That is, he made shipwreck of the 
faith, for want of self-denial, and " taking up his cross 
daily." 

How often do the cares of common life crowd out 
his duties ! Ah ! many a time the hour of prayer 
arrives — and passes onward, the witness of his neg- 
lect. The slightest pretext satisfies his offended 
conscience, and justifies his conduct to himself. The 
eye of vigilance is closed, the adversary approaches 
unperceived, and the well-laid snare entangles his 
unsuspecting feet. He seldom retires from the busy 
world to shut himself up in the thoughtfulness of 
holy meditation. The " law of the Lord" is not his 
"delight:" it is not his "meditation all the day." 
Alas ! his careless eye seldom rests on its sacred page : 
it lies by, neglected and forgotten, and is made to 
yield its place to the frothy productions of sinful men. 
If he reads, it is not that its truths may probe his 
heart ; that its promises may strengthen his faith ; or 
that the glorious prospects which it opens, may glad- 
den and encourage his soul. He practises not those 



46 



REPRESENTATION OP 



lessons of ennobling charity which it teaches. His 
feet pursue not those paths which lead to the abodes 
of sorrow : he visits not the " fatherless and the 
widow in their affliction :" he becomes no angel 
of mercy to the sick and dying. His fertile heart in- 
vents the ready and specious excuse, and the neglect 
of these imperious duties gives him no remorse. In 
his own dwelling there is no family devotion, no 
family instruction, though his children are perishing 
through " lack of knowledge the love of this world 
has led his captive feet with ease into the fowler's 
snare. Oh ! what an opiate to his soul to lull it into 
the deep sleep of spiritual death ! What a leaden 
weight to his faith, to drag it down from God ! What 
a darkening veil, to hide with fatal success from his 
eyes, every soul-cheering glory of the heavenly world. 

Reader, is the above a description of thy character 
before God ? If so, " arise, thou sleeper, and call on 
thy God," repent, and confess thy sins before him, 
and forsake the same, and through the merits of Christ 
thou mayest find mercy, in the forgiveness of thy 
sins, and in the healing of thy backslidings, so thou 
mayest again be restored to what thy soul has lost. 
tc His arm is not shortened that it cannot save, neither 
is his ear heavy, that it cannot hear ; he is stronger 
than all your enemies ; he can bind them, and cast 
them out, and set you at perfect liberty again." 

Ah ! where am I now 1 

When was it, or how, 
That I fell from my heaven of grace 1 

I am brought into thrall ; 

I am stript of my all ; 
I am banish' d from Jesus's face I 

Hardly yet do I know 

How I let my Lord go, 
So insensibly starting aside ; 

When the tempter came in 

With his own subtle sin, 
And infected my spirit with pride. 



THE HEART OP MAN. 



But I felt it too soon, 

That my Saviour was gone, 

Swiftly vanishing out of my sight ; 
My triumph and boast 
On a sudden were lost, 

And my day it was turn'd into night. 

Only pride could destroy 

That innocent joy, 
And make my Redeemer depart ; 

But whate'er was the cause, 

I lament the sad loss, 
For the veil has come over my heart. 

Ah ! wretch that I am ! 

I can only exclaim, 
Like a devil tormented within : 

My Saviour is gone, 

And has left me alone 
To the fury of Satan and sin. 

Nothing now can relieve ; 

Without comfort I grieve ; 
I have lost all my peace and my power: 

No access do I find 

To the friend of mankind; 
I can ask for his mercy no more. 

Tongue cannot declare 

The torment I bear, 
(While no end of my troubles I see ;) 

Only Adam could tell 

On the day that he fell, 
And was turned out of Eden like me. 

Driven out from my God, 

I wander abroad, 
Through a desert of sorrows I rove : 

How great is my pain 

That I cannot regain 
My Eden of Jesus's love ! 

I never shall rise 

To my first paradise, 
Or come my Redeemer to see ; 

But I feel a faint hope, 

That at last he will stoop, 
And his pity shall bring him to me. 



48 



REPRESENTATION OP 



FIGURE IX. 

Picture of the heart of a person whose passions are sub" 
jectecl by Philosophy. 

In this heart is represented, by the figures being 
chained, that this man has his passions in subjection, 
at his control, and trusting his philosophy will pass 
him to heaven and happiness for ever ; the Dove, 
signifying the Holy Spirit, is hovering about his 
heart, and calling on him to give it up to God. 

Philosophy is indeed the noblest stretch of intellect 
which God has vouchsafed to man ; and it is only 
when man forgets that he received his reasoning 
powers from God, that he is in danger of losing him- 
self in darkness when he sought for light. To mea- 
sure that which is infinite, is as impossible in meta- 
physics as in physics, If it had not been for revela- 
tion, we should have known no more of the Deity 
than the Heathen Philosophers knew before : and to 
what did their knowledge amount ? They felt the 
necessity of a First Cause, and they saw that that 
Cause must be intrinsically good : but when they 
came to systems, they never went further than the 
point from which they first set out, that evil is not 
good, and good is not evil. The Gnostics thought to 
secure the triumph of their scheme by veiling its 
weaker points in mystery, and by borrowing a part 
from almost every system. But popular, and even 
successful as this attempt may have been, we may 
say with truth, that the scheme which flattered the 
vanity of human wisdom, and which strove to con- 
ciliate all opinions, has died away, and is forgotten ; 
while the Gospel, the unpresuming, the uncompro- 
mising doctrine of the Gospel, aided by no human 




"JzeAe/e/ a/l j>e fiftat 6ih///e a /;<//'/ /fit// eenzptife jri&ii&e/vtii' 
<?/>/>// f w/tA ,(/w^f, na/A- m t/ie /{///7 ( !f /rave created and in die 
'jparfo jre Aave Amazed fifc&fjre Ziave at mine /zand o-//a// /Ac 
dcfwn A/i sorrow. " Z^z/'^A &(?. // . 



THE HEART OF MAN. 



49 



wisdom, and addressing itself not merely to thehead* 
but to the heart, has triumphed over all systems and 
all philosophers ; and still leads its followers to that 
true knowledge which some have endeavoured to 
teach " after the tradition of men, after the rudiments 
of the world, and not after Christ." The apostle con - 
demns this philosophy, 1st. because it is empty and 
deceitful, "promising happiness, but giving none." 
2d. Because it was grounded, not on solid reason, but 
the traditions of men, Zeno, Epicurus, and the rest : 
and, 3d. Because it was shallow and superficial, not 
advancing beyond the knowledge of sensible things ; 
no, not beyond the first rudiments of them. 

Also when he came to Athens, he there found Epi- 
curean and Stoic Philosophers, who made a jest of his 
discourses : and no wonder, seeing they placed the 
chief happiness in pleasure, and denied the providence 
of God. Actsxvii, 18. As to the effects of Christianity, 
they have been and still are considerable, and afford 
at least a collateral proof of the superiority and excel- 
lence of the system. Destitute of all human advan- 
tages, protected by no authority, assisted by no art; 
not recommended by the reputation of its authors, 
not enforced by eloquence in its advocates, the word 
of God grew mightily, and prevailed. Twelve men, 
poor, artless, and illiterate, we behold triumphing* 
over the fiercest and most determined opposition ; 
over the tyranny of the magistrate, and the subtleties 
of the philosopher ; over the prejudice of the Gentile, 
and the bigotry of the Jew. 

The religion of Jesus trampled over the philosophy 
of the world, the arguments of the subtle, the dis- 
courses of the eloquent, the power of princes, the in- 
terest of states, the inclination of nature, the blindness 
of zeal, the force of custom, the solicitation of pas- 
sions, the pleasure of sin, and the busy arts of the 
devil. 

Reader ! God, the glorious maker and supporter of 



50 



REPRESENTATION OP 



all things, by whose providence we are sustained, 
and by whose grace we are redeemed, is the only God 
we should acknowledge and worship ; he alone is to 
be feared, loved, honoured, and obeyed ; and all other 
beings, in heaven, earth, or hell, are to be considered 
as nothing, and totally disregarded, in comparison 
with him. And the worship we pay him must not be 
dead, formal, and hypocritical ; but sincere, fervent, 
spiritual, grateful, and such as he requires in his holy 
word. All, therefore, who forget, neglect, despise, and 
hate him ; all who forsake his ordinances, and refuse 
to pray to him, to praise and love him ; all who offer 
him mere lip-service, and draw near to him in per- 
son, while their heart is far from him ; all who neg- 
lect to read or hear his holy word, that they may 
know his will and do it ; and all who do not give 
their hearts to him, are breakers of his command- 
ments. And now I leave you to judge whether you 
are guilty or not guilty. 

My gracious, loving Lord, 

To thee what shall I say 1 
Well may I tremble at thy word, 

And scarce presume to pray ! 

Yet, Lord, well might I fear, 

Fear e'en to ask thy grace ; 
So oft have I, alas ! drawn near, 

And mock'd thee to thy face : 

Nigh with my lips I drew : 

My lips were all unclean :' 
Thee with my heart I never knew ; 

My heart was full of sin : 

Far from the living Lord, 

As far as hell from heaven j 
Thy purity I still abhorr'd, 

Nor look'd to be forgiven 

My nature I obey'd ; 

My own desires pursu'd : 
And* still a den of thieves I made 

The hallow'd house of God. 

In fig leaves I appear 'd; 

Nor with my form would part , 
But still retain'd a conscience sear'd, 

A hard, deceitful heart. 



DIRECTIONS 

FOR 

KEEPING THE HEART. 



Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the 
issues of life. — Pro v. iv. 23. 

The heart of man is his worst part before it be 
regenerated, and the best afterwards ; it is the seat of 
principles, and the fountain of actions. The eye of 
God is, and the eye of the Christian ought to be, 
principally fixed upon it 

The greatest difficulty in conversion is, to win the 
heart to God ; and the greatest difficulty after conver- 
sion is, to keep the heart with God. Here lies the very 
force and stress of religion ; here is that which makes 
the way to life a narrow way, and the gate of hea- 
ven a straight gate. To keep the heart, necessarily 
supposes a previous work of grace, which has set the 
heart right, by giving it a new spiritual inclination ; 
for as long as the heart is not set right by grace, as 
to its habitual frame, no means can keep it right with 
God. Self is the poise of the unregenerated heart, 
which biases and moves it in all its designs and ac- 
tions ; and as long as it is so, it is impossible that any 
external means could keep it with God. 

Man, by creation, was of one constant, uniform 
frame of spirit, held one straight and even course ; 
not one thought or faculty was disordered ; his mind 
had a perfect knowledge of the requirements of God \ 
his will a perfect compliance therewith ; all his appe- 
tites and powers stood in a most obedient subordina- 
tion, 



52 



Directions for 



Man, by degeneration, is become a most disordered 
and rebellious creature, opposing his Maker, as the 
First Cause, by self-dependance ; as the Chief Good. 
by self-love ; as the Highest Lord, by self-will ; and 
as the Last End, by self-seeking. Thus he is quite 
disordered, and all his actions are irregular. His 
once illuminated understanding is now clouded with 
ignorance; his once complying will is now full of 
rebellion and stubbornness ; his once subordinate 
powers, have now cast ojff the dominion of the supe- 
rior faculties. But, by regeneration this disordered 
soul is set aright again ; sanctificatwn being, as the 
Scripture expresses it f the renovcition of the soul after 
the image of God, in which self-dependance is re- 
moved by faith ; self-love, by the love of God ; self- 
will, by subjection and obedience to the will of God ; 
and self-seeking, by self-denial. The darkened un- 
derstanding is again illuminated, the refractory will 
sweetly subjected, the rebellious appetite gradually 
conquered. Thus the soul which sin had universally 
depraved, is by grace restored. This being pre-sup- 
posed, it will not be difficult to apprehend what it is 
to keep the hearty which is nothing but the eamstmd 
care and diligence of such a renewed man, to pre- 
serve his soul in that holy frame to which grace has 
raised it. For though grace has, in a great measure, 
rectified the soul, and given it an habitual heavenly 
temper, yet sin often actually discomposes it again ; 
so that even a gracious heart is like a musical instru- 
ment, which, though it be exactly tuned, a small mat- 
ter brings it out of tune again ; yea, hang it aside but 
a little, and it will need setting again before another 
lesson can be played upon it. If gracious hearts are 
in a desirable frame in one duty, yet how dull, dead, 
and disordered, when they come to another ! There- 
fore,, every duty needs a particular preparation of the 
heart. C£ If thou prepare thine heart ami stretch out 
thine hands towards him,' 7 &c. To keep the heart, 



KEEPING THE HEART. 



53 



then, is carefully to preserve it from sin, which disor- 
ders it : and maintain that spiritual and gracious 
frame, which fits it for a life of communion with God. 
This includes in it six particulars. 

I. Frequent observation of the frame of the heart. 
Carnal and formal persons take no heed to this ; they 
cannot be brought to confer with their own hearts : 
there are some people who have lived forty or fifty 
years in the world, and have had scarcely one hour's 
discourse with their own hearts. It is a hard thing 
to bring a man and himself together on such busi- 
ness 5 but saints know those soliloquies to be very 
salutary. The heathen could say, " The soul is made 
wise by sitting still in quietness." Though bankrupts 
care not to look into their books of account, yet up- 
right hearts will know whether they go backward or 
forward. " I commune with mine own heart," says 
David. The heart can never be kept until its case 
be examined and understood. 

II. It includes deep humiliation for heart evils and 
disorders ; thus Hezekiah humbled himself for the 
pride of his heart. Thus the people were ordered to 
spread forth their hands to God in prayer, realizing 
the -plague of their own hearts. Upon this account 
many an upright heart has been laid low before God ; 
O what a heart have I. Saints have, in their confes- 
sion, pointed at the heart, the painful place : " Lord, 
here is the wound? It is with the heart well kept as 
it is with the eye ; if a small dust get into the eye, it 
will never cease twinkling and watering till it has 
wept it out : so the upright heart cannot be at rest 
till it has wept out its troubles and poured out its 
complaints before the Lord. 

III. It includes earnest supplication and instant 

Erayer for purifying and rectifying grace, when sin 
as disordered and defiled the heart. " Cleanse thou 
me from secret faults." w Unite my heart to fear thy 
name." Saints have always many such petitions 



54 



DIRECTIONS FOR 



depending before the throne of God's grace ; this is 
the thing which is most pleaded by them with God. 
When they are praying for outward mercies, perhaps 
their spirits may be more remiss ; but when it comes 
to the heart's case, they extend their spirits to the 
utmost, fill their mouths with arguments, weep and 
make supplication : " O for a better heart ! O for a 
heart to love God more ! to hate sin more ; to walk 
more evenly with God. Lord, deny not to me such a 
heart, whatever thou deny me : give me a heart to 
fear thee, to love and delight in thee, if I beg my 
bread in desolate places.' 5 

" O for a heart to praise my God,, 

A heart from- sin set free ; 
A heart that always feels thy blood, 

So freely spilt for me." 

It is observed of an eminent saint, that when he 
was confessing sin, he would never give over confess- 
ing until he had felt some brokenness of heart for 
that sin ; and when praying for any spiritual mercy, 
would never give over that suit, till he had obtained 
some relish of that mercy. 

IV. It includes the imposing of strong engagements 
upon ourselves to walk more carefully with God, and 
avoid the occasions whereby the heart may be in- 
duced to sin. Well advised and deliberate vows, are> 
in some cases^ very useful to guard the heart against 
some special sin. " I have made a covenant with 
mine eyes," says Job. By this means holy men have 
overawed their souls and preserved themselves from 
defilement by some special heart corruptions. 

V. It includes a constant and holy jealousy over 
our own hearts. Quick-sighted self-jealousy is an 
excellent preservative from sin. He that will keep 
his heart, must have the eyes of the soul awake, and 
open upon all the disorderly and tumultuous stirrings 
of his affections ; if the affections break loose, and the 
passions be stirred, the soul must discover it, and 



KEEPING THE HEART. 



55 



suppress them before they get to a height. u 0 my 
soul, dost thou well in this ? My tumultuous thoughts 
and passions, where is your commission?" Happy is 
the man that thus feareth always. By this fear of the 
Lord it is that men depart from evil, shake off secu- 
rity, and preserve themselves from iniquity. He that 
will keep his heart, must eat and drink with fear, re- 
joice with fear, and pass the whole time of his so- 
journing here in fear. All this is little enough to 
keep the heart from sin. 

VI. It includes the realizing of God's presence 
with us, and setting the Lord always before us. This 
the people of God have found a powerful means of 
keeping their hearts upright, and awing them from 
sin. When the eye of our faith is fixed upon the eye 
of God's omniscience, we dare not let out our 
thoughts and affections to vanity. Holy Job durst not 
suffer his heart to yield to an impure, vain thought ; 
and what was it that moved him to so great circum- 
spection ? He tells us, " doth not he see my ways, 
and count all my steps ?" 

In such particulars as these, do gracious souls ex- 
press the care they have of their hearts. They are 
careful to prevent the breaking loose of the corrup- 
tions in time of temptation ; careful to preserve the 
sweetness and comfort they have got from God in 
any duty. This is the work, and of all works in reli- 
gion it is the most difficult, constant, and important 
work. 

1st. It is the hardest work. Heart-work is hard 
work indeed. To shuffle over religious duties with a 
loose and heedless spirit, will cost no great pains : 
but to set thyself before the Lord, and tie up thy loose 
and vain thoughts to a constant and serious attend- 
ance upon him ; this will cost thee something. To 
attain a facility and dexterity of language in prayer, 
and put thy meaning into apt and decent expressions, 
is easy; but to get thy heart broken from sin, while 



DIRECTIONS FOR 



thou art confessing it ; melted with free grace while 
thou art blessing God for it ; to be really ashamed 
and humbled through the apprehension of God's in- 
finite holiness, and to keep thy heart in this frame, 
not only in but after duty, will surely cost thee some 
groans and pains of soul. To repress the outward 
acts of sin, and compose the external part of thy life 
in a laudible manner, is no great matter ; even carnal 
persons, by the force of common principles, can do 
this : but to kill the root of corruption within, to set 
and keep up a holy government over thy thoughts, 
to have all things lie straight and orderly in the 
heart, this is not easy. 

2d. It is a constant work. The keeping of the 
heart is a work that is never done till life be ended. — 
There is no time or condition in the life of a Chris- 
tian, which will suffer an intermission of this work. 
It is in keeping watch over our hearts, as it w as in 
keeping up Moses' hands, while Israel and Amalek 
were fighting. No sooner do the hands of Moses 
grow heavy and sink down, than Amalek prevails. 
Intermitting the watch over their own hearts for but 
a few minutes, cost David and Peter many a sad day 
and night. 

3d. It is the most important business of a Chris- 
tian's life. Without this we are but formalists in 
religion : all our professions, gifts, and duties, signify 
nothing. " My son, give me thine heart," is God's 
request. God is pleased to call that a gift, which is 
indeed a debt ; he will put this honour upon the crea- 
ture, to receive it from him in the way of a gift ; but 
if this be not given him, he regards not whatever else 
you bring to him. There is only so much of worth 
in what we do as there is of heart in it. Concerning 
the heart, God seems to say, as Joseph of Benja- 
min, " If you bring not Benjamin with you, you shall 
not see my face." 

Among the heathen, when the beast was cut up 



KEEPING THE HEART. 



57 



for sacrifice, the first thing the priest looked upon, 
was the heart, and if that was unsound and worth- 
less, the sacrifice was rejected. God rejects all duties 
(how glorious soever in other respects) which are of- 
fered him without a heart. He that performs duty 
without a heart, that is, heedlessty, is no more ac- 
cepted with God than he that performs it with a 
double heart, that is hypocritically. 

If the keeping of the heart be so important a busi- 
ness ; if such great advantages result from it ; if so 
many valuable interests be wrapt up in it, then let me 
call upon the people of God every where to engage 
heartily in this work. O study your hearts, watch 
your hearts, keep your hearts ! away with fruitless 
controversies, and all idle questions ; away with 
empty names and vain shows ; away with unprofit- 
able discourse, and bold censures of others : turn in 
upon yourselves ; get into your closets, and resolve 
to dweJl there. You have been strangers to this work 
too long ; you have kept other vineyards too long ; 
you have trilled about the borders of religion too 
long; this world has beguiled you, and kept you from 
your great business too long; — will you now resolve 
to look better to your hearts 7 — will you now hasten 
out of the confusion of business and the clamours of 
the world, and retire yourselves more than you have 
done? O that this day, this hour, you would resolve 
upon doing so ! 

Sequester yourself from all earthly employments, 
and set apart some time for solemn preparation to 
meet God in duty. You cannot come directly from 
the world into God's presence, without finding a sa- 
vour of the world in your duties. It is with the heart 
(a few minutes since plunged in the world, now in 
the presence of God) as it is with the sea after a 
storm, which still continues working, muddy and 
disquiet, though the wind be laid and the storm be 
over. Your heart must have some time to settle. 



58 



DIRECTIONS FOR 



Few musicians can take an instrument and play 
upon it without some time and labour to tune it; few 
Christians can say with David, " My heart is fixed, 
O God, it is fixed." When you go to God in any duty, 
take your heart aside and say, " O, my soul, I am 
now engaged in the greatest work that a creature 
was ever employed about ; I am going into the awful 
presence of God, upon business of everlasting mo- 
ment. O, my soul, leave trifling now ; be composed, 
be watchful, be serious ; this is no common work, it 
is soul-work ; it is work for eternity ; it is work which 
will bring forth fruit to life or death in the world to 
come." Pause awhile — and consider your sins, your 
wants, your troubles ; keep your thoughts awhile on 
these, before you address yourself to duty. David 
first mused, and then spake with his tongue. 

If you would keep your heart from vain excursions, 
when engaged in duties, realize to yourself, by faith, 
the holy and awful presence of God. If the presence 
of a grave man would compose you to seriousness, how 
much more should the presence of a holy God? Do 
you think that you would dare to be gay and light, 
if you realized the presence and inspection of the 
Divine Being ? Remember where you are, when en- 
gaged in religious duty, and act as if you believed in 
the omniscience of God. " All things are naked and 
open to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." 
Realize his infinite holiness, his purity, his spirit- 
uality. 

When you come from an exercise in which your 
heart has been wandering and listless, what can you 
say? Suppose all the vanities and impertinences 
which have passed through your mind during a de- 
votional exercise, were written down, and interlined 
with your petitions, could you have the face to pre^ 
sent them to God ? Should your tongue utter all the 
thoughts of your heart when attending the worship 
of God, would not men abhor you? Yet your 



KEEPING THE HEART. 



50 



thoughts are perfectly known to God. O think upon 
this Scripture : " God is greatly to be feared in the 
assemblies of his saints, and to be had in reverence 
of all them that are round about him." Why did the 
Lord descend in thunderings, and lightnings, and 
dark clouds upon Sinai ? Why did the mountains 
smoke under him, the people quake and tremble 
roun d about him, Moses himself not excepted ? but to 
teach the people this great truth : " Let us have grace ? 
whereby we may serve Him acceptably with reve- 
rence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming tire." 
Such apprehensions of the character and presence of 
God, will quickly reduce a heart inclined to vanity 
to a more serious frame. 

Maintain a prayerful frame of heart in the inter- 
vals of duty. What reason can be assigned why our 
hearts are so dull, so careless, so wandering, when we 
hear or pray, but that there have been long intermis- 
sions in our communion with God ? If that divine 
unction, that spiritual fervour and those holy impres- 
sions which we obtain from God, while engaged in 
the performance of one duty, were preserved to en- 
liven and engage us in the performance of another, 
they would be of incalculable service to keep our 
hearts serious and devout. For this purpose, fre- 
quent ejaculations between stated and solemn duties, 
are of most excellent use. They not only preserve 
the mind in a composed and pious frame, but they 
connect one stated duty as it were with another, and 
keep the attention of the soul alive to all its interests 
and obligations. 

If you would have the distraction of your thoughts 
prevented, endeavour to raise your affections to God, 
and to engage them warmly in your duty. When the 
soul is intent upon any work, it gathers in its strength 
and bends all its thoughts to that work ; and when it 
is deeply affected, it will pursue its object with in- 
tenseness, the affections will gain an ascendancy over 



60 



DIRECTIONS FOTt 



the thoughts, and guide them. But deadness causes 
distraction, and distraction increases deadness. Could 
you but regard your duties as the medium in which 
you might walk in communion with God : in which 
your soul might be filled with those ravishing and 
matchless delights which his presence affords, you 
might have no inclination to neglect them. But if 
you would prevent the recurrence of distracting 
thoughts, if you would find your happiness in the 
performance of duty, you must not only be careful 
that you engage in what is your duty, but labour 
with patient and persevering exertion to interest your 
feelings in it. Why is your heart so inconstant, espe- 
cially in secret duties? Why are you ready to be 
gone, almost as soon as you are come into the pre- 
sence of God, but because your affections are not en- 
gaged ? 

When you are disturbed by vain thoughts, humble 
yourself before God, and call in assistance from hea- 
ven. When the messenger of Satan buffeted St. Paul, 
by wicked suggestions, (as is supposed) he mourned 
before God on account of it. Never slight wandering 
thoughts in duty as small matters ; follow every such 
thought with a deep regret. Turn to God with such 
words as these: "Lord I came hither to commune 
with thee, and here a busy adversary and a vain 
heart, conspiring together, have opposed me. O my 
God ! what a heart have 1 ! Shall I never wait upon 
thee without distraction ? When shall I enjoy an hour 
of free communion with thee ? Grant me thy assist- 
ance at this time ; discover thy glory to me, and my 
heart will quickly be recovered. I came hither to 
enjoy thee, and shall I go away without thee ? Be- 
hold my distress, and help me !' Could you but suffi- 
ciently bewail your distractions, and repair to God 
for deliverance from them, you would gain relief. 

Reader, methinks I shall prevail with you. All that 
I beg for is this, that you would step aside oftener to 



KEEPING THE HEAllT. 



61 



talk with God and your own heart ; that you would 
not suffer every trifle to divert you : that you would 
keep a more true and faithful account of your 
thoughts and affections ; that you would seriously 
demand of your own heart, at least every evening, 
" O my heart, where hast thou been to-day ? and 
what has engaged thy thoughts ? 

If all that has been said by way of inducement, be 
not enough, I have yet some motives to offer you. 

I. The studying, observing, and diligently keeping 
your own heart, will surprisingly help you to under- 
stand the deep mysteries of religion. An honest, well- 
experienced heart is an excellent help to a weak 
head. Such a heart will serve for a commentary on 
a great part of the Scriptures. By means of such a 
heart, you will have a better understanding of divine 
things than the most learned (graceless) man ever 
had, or can have ? you will not only have a clearer 
but a more interesting and profitable apprehension of 
them. A man may discourse orthodoxly and pro- 
foundly, of the nature and effects of faith, the troubles 
and comforts of conscience, and the sweetness of 
communion with God, who never felt the efficacy 
and sweet impression of these things upon his own 1 
soul. But how dark and dry are his notions, com- 
pared with those of an experienced Christian. When 
a Christian, whose heart has been disciplined and 
kept, reads David's Psalms and Paul's epistles, he there 
finds his own objections made and answered. — 
u These holy men," saith he, " speak my very heart ; 
their doubts are mine, their troubles mine ; their ex- 
periences mine." Experience is the best schoolmaster, 
O then study, and keep your heart. 

II. The study and observation of your own heart, 
will powerfully secure you against the dangerous and 
infecting errors of the times, and the place in which 
you live. 

III. Your care and diligence in keeping your heart. 



62 



DIRECTIONS FOR 



will prove one of the best evidences of your sincerity, 
I know no external act of religion, which truly dis- 
tinguishes the sound from the unsound professor. It 
is marvellous how far hypocrites go in all external 
duties, how plausibly they can order the outward 
man, hiding all their indecencies from the observa- 
tion of the world. But they take no heed to their 
hearts ; they are not in secret what they appear to be 
in public ; and before this test no hypocrite can stand. 
They may, indeed, in a fit of terror, or on a death- 
bed, cry, out of the wickedness of their hearts ; but 
such extorted complaints are worthy of no regard. 
No credit, in law, is to be given to the testimony of 
one upon the rack, because it may be supposed that 
the extremity of his torture will make him say any 
thing to get relief. Now, if self-jealousy, care, and 
watchfulness be the daily workings and frame of 
your heart, you have daily evidence of your sincerity : 
for what but an apprehension of the divine presence, 
and a real hatred of sin on its own account, could 
engage you in these secret exercises ? If, then, it be 
a desirable thing in your estimation, to have a fair 
evidence of your integrity, a reasonable ground of 
hope that you fear God, then inspect and keep your 
heart with all diligence. 

IV. How comfortable and how profitable would all 
ordinances and duties be to you, if your heart was 
faithfully kept. What lively communion might you 
have with God, every time you approach him, if your 
heart was in a right frame. You might then say with 
David., " My meditation of him shall be sweet." It is 
the indisposition of the heart which renders ordi- 
nances and secret duties so comfortless to some. 
They strive to raise their hearts to God, now press- 
ing this argument upon them, then that, to quicken 
and affect them ; yet they often get nearly through 
the exercise before their hearts begin to be interested 
an it ; and sometimes they go away no better than 



KEEPING THE HEART. 



63 



they came. But the Christian whose heart is pre- 
pared, by being constantly kept, enters immediately 
and heartily into his duties ; he outstrips his sluggish 
neighbour, gets the first sight of Christ in a sermon, 
the first seal from Christ in a sacrament, the first 
communication of grace and Jove in secret prayer. 
Let me tell you, that prayers and sermons would ap- 
pear to be very different things from what they do 
ordinarily, if they were attended to with hearts which 
have been kept. You would not go away dejected, 
and drooping, and lamenting, u O this has been a lost 
day, a lost duty to me," if you had not first lost your 
heart. Now if there be any thing valuable and com- 
fortable in ordinances and private duties, look to your 
hearts and keep them, I beseech you. 

V. An acquaintance with your own heart, will 
furnish you a fountain of matter in prayer. The man 
who is diligent in heart-work, will be richly supplied 
with matter in his addresses to God. He will not be 
confused for want of thought ; his tongue will not 
falter for want of expressions. Others must pump 
their memories, rack their inventions, and have their 
attentions wholly swallowed up in finding something 
to say ; and after all make out miserably. 

When a heart-experienced Christian is mourning 
before God for some special corruption, or wrestling 
with God for the supply of some special want, he 
speaks not as those do who have learned to pray by 
rote ; their confessions and petitions are forced out — 
his flow freely and feelingly. And it is a happiness to 
be with or near such a Christian. 

VI. The most desirable thing in the world, viz.. 
the revival of religion among* professors, may be 
effected by means of what I am urging upon you. 

O that I might see the time when professors shall 
not walk in a vain show ; when they shall please 
themselves no more with a name to live, while they 
are spiritually dead ; when they shall be no more a 



64 



DIRECTIONS FOR 



company of frothy, vain persons ; but when holiness 
shall shine in their conversation, and awe the world, 
and command reverence from all that are round them; 
when they shall warm the hearts of those who come 
near them, and cause it to be said, God is in these 
men of a truth. And may such a time be expected ? 
Until heart-work becomes the business of professors, I 
have no hope of seeing a time so blessed ! Does it 
not grieve you to see how religion is contemned and 
trampled under foot, and the professors of it ridiculed 
and scorned in the world ? Professors, would you 
recover your credit? would you obtain an honoura- 
ble testimony in the consciences of your enemies ? 
Then keep your hearts. It is the looseness, frothi- 
ness, and earth] iness of your hearts, that has made 
your lives so unsuitable and useless ; this has pro- 
cured you the disrespect and contempt of the world j 
this has banished your serious and heavenly deport- 
ment among men, and destroyed your influence over 
their consciences. For the honour of religion and of 
your profession, then, keep your hearts. 

VII. By diligence in keeping our hearts, we should 
prevent the occasions of fatal scandals and stumbling 
blocks to the world. Wo to the world because of 
offences ! Does not shame cover your faces, do not 
your hearts even bleed within you to hear of the 
scandalous miscarriages of many loose professors I 
How is " that worthy name" blasphemed ! How are 
the hearts of the truly righteous wounded ! By these 
things the world are prejudiced against Christ and 
the gospel ; those who have a sort of liking to the 
ways of religion, are startled and driven back ; the 
the bonds of death are made fast upon others, and 
thus the blood of souls is shed ! The consciences of 
fallen professors are plunged and overwhelmed in 
the deeps of trouble ; their souls are debarred the 
comfort of fellowship with Christ, and all the joys of 
his salvation are refused them. Indeed, the mischiefs 



KEEPING THE HEART. 



65 



which result from the scandalous lives of professors, 
are almost infinite. And all this because they neglect 
their hearts. What words then can express the 
amazing importance of keeping the heart ! Every- 
thing seems to unite in making it necessary and mo- 
mentous. Christians, what will you do ? Will yoa 
keep your hearts ? Will, you engage in this work, or 
lose all the comforts of religion ? Will you do this, or 
lose your characters ? Will you do it, or ruin your 
souls ? 

VIIL Keep your heart faithfully, and you will be 
prepared for any situation or service to which you 
may be called. This, and this only, can properly fit 
you for usefulness in any station ; but with this, you 
can endure prosperity or adversity ; you can deny 
yourself, and turn your hand to any work. Thus 
Paul turned every circumstance to good account, and 
made himself eminently useful. When he preached 
to others, he provided against being cast away him- 
self ; he kept his heart. And every thing in which 
he excelled, seems to have had a close connexion with 
his diligence in keeping his heart. 

IX. If the people of God would diligently keep 
their hearts, their communion with each other would 
be unspeakably more inviting and profitable. Then, 
u How goodly would be thy tents, O Jacob, and thy 
tabernacles, O Israel !" It is the fellowship which the 
people of God have with the Father and with the 
Son, that kindles the desires of others tc have com- 
munion with them. I tell you, if saints, would be 
persuaded to spend more time, and take more pains 
about their hearts, there would soon be such a divine 
excellence in their conversation, that others would 
account it no small privilege to be with or near them. 
It is the pride, passions, and earthliness of our hearts,, 
that has spoiled Christian fellowship. Why is it, that 
when Christians meet, they are often, jarring and, 
contending, but because their passions are unmorti- 

6* 



66 



DIRECTIONS FOR 



fied ? Whence come their uncharitable censures ot 
their brethren, but from their ignorance of them- 
selves ? Why are they so rigid and unfeeling towards 
those who have fallen, but because they do not feel 
their own weakness and liability to temptation? 
Why is their discourse so light and unprofitable wheni 
they meet, but because their hearts are earthly and 
vain ? My brethren,, these, and similar things are 
what have spoiled Christian fellowship, and made 
it so dry and disgusting, that even many Chris- 
tians are weary of it ; and therefore, they seek in 
retirement, that happiness which the society of saints 
was designed to afford. But now, if Christians 
would study their hearts more, and keep them better, 
all this would be prevented ; and the beauty and 
glory of communion would be restored. They would 
divide no more, contend no more, censure rashly no 
more : when their hearts are kept, their tongue will 
not go loose. They will feel right, one towards ano- 
ther, when each is daily humbled, under a sense of 
the evil of his own heart. May God hasten the state 
ef things which. I desire, and for which I plead,, and 
may these counsels have some good effect. 

You have seen that the keeping of the heart is the 
great work of a Christian, in which the very soul and 
life of religion consists, and without which, all othei- 
duties, are of no value in the sight of God. Hence, to 
the consternation of hypocrites and formal professors, 
I infer, 

1. That the pains and labours which many persons 
have undergone in religion, are of no value, and will 
turn to no good account. Many splendid services have- 
been performed by men, which God will utterly re- 
ject ; they will not stand on record in order to an 
eternal acceptance, because the performers took no 
heed to keep their hearts with God. This is that fatal 
rock on which thousands of vain professors dash and 
nun themselves eternally ; they are exact about tha 



KEEPING THE HEART. 



67 



externals of religion, but regardless of their hearts. 
O how many hours have some professors spent in 
hearing, praying, reading, and conferring ! and yet, 
as to the main end of religion, they might as well 
have sat still and done nothing ; the great work, I 
mean heart-work, being all the while neglected* Tell 
me, vain professor, when did you shed a tear for the 
deadness, hardness, unbelief or earthliness of your 
heart. And do you think your easy religion can save 
you ? If so, you must invert Christ's words, and say. 
Wide is the gate and broad is the vmi/ 7 that leadetk 
to life, and many there be that go in thereat ! Hear 
me, ye self deluding hypocrite ; you, who have put 
otf God with heartless duties ; you, who have acted 
in religion as if you had been blessing an idol ; you, 
who could not search your heart, and regulate it, and 
exercise it in your performances ; how will you abide 
the coming of the Lord ? How will you hold up your 
head before him, when he shall say, u O you dissem- 
bling, false-hearted man ! how could you profess re- 
ligion ? With what face could you so often tell me 
that you love me, when you knew in your conscience, 
that your heart was not with me ?" O tremble to 
think what a fearful judgment it is to be given over 
to a heedless and careless heart, and then to have 
religious duties, instead of a rattle, to quiet and still 
the conscience ! 

2. I infer for their humiliation, that unless the 
people of God spend more time and pains about their 
hearts than they ordinarily do, they are never like to 
do God much service, or to possess much comfort in 
this world. I may say of that Christian who is re- 
miss and careless in keeping his heart, as Jacob said 
of Reuben, Thou shalt not excel. It grieves me to see 
how many Christians there are who live at a poor, 
low rate, both of service and comfort, and who go up 
and down dejected and complaining. But how can 
they expect it to be otherwise while they live so carer 



63 



DIRECTIONS FO& 



lessly ? O how little of their time is spent in the closet, 
in searching, humbling, and quickening their hearts ! 
Christian, you say your heart is dead, and do you 
wonder that it is, so long as you keep it not with the 
fountain of life ? If your body had been dieted as 
your soul has, that would have been dead too. And 
you may never expect that your heart will be in a 
better state until you take more pains with it, 

O Christians ! I fear your zeal and strength have 
run in the wrong channel ; I fear the most of us may 
take up the Church's complaint : " They have made 
me the keeper of the vineyards, but mine own vine- 
yard have I not kept." Two things have eaten up the 
time and strength of the professors of this generation, 
and sadly diverted them from heart-work : 

First : — Fruitless controversies, started by Satan, 
I doubt not, for the very purpose of taking us off from 
practical godliness : to make us puzzle our heads, 
when we should be inspecting our hearts. How little 
have we regarded the observation, " It is a good thing 
that the heart be established with grace and not with 
.meats," (that is, with disputes and controversies about 
meats,) " which have not profited them that have been 
occupied therein." How much better it is to see men 
live exactly, than to hear them dispute with subtlety. 
These unfruitful questions, how have they rended 
the churches, wasted time and spirits, and taken 
Christians off from their main business ? What think 
you, would it not have been better if the questions 
agitated among the people of God of late had been 
such as these : How shall a man distinguish the spe- 
cial from the common operations of the Spirit ? How 
may a soul discern its first declinings from God ? How 
may a backsliding Christian recover his first love ? 
How may the heart be preserved from unreasonable 
thoughts in duty? How may a bosom sin be disco- 
vered and mortified ? &c. Would not this course have 
tended more to the honour of religion and the comfort 



KEEPING THE HEART. 



69 



of souls ? I am ashamed, that the professors of this 
generation are yet insensible of their folly. You have 
come to what your ministers long since expected, and 
warned you of ; and what will be the event 3 / call 
on you to repent. O that God would turn your dis- 
putes and contentions into practical godliness ! 

Second : — Worldly cares and incumbrances, have 
greatly increased the neglect of our hearts. The 
heads and hearts of multitudes have been filled with 
such a crowd and noise of worldly business, that they 
have lamentably declined in their zeal, their love, 
their delight in God, and their heavenly, serious and 
profitable way of conversing with men. How miser- 
ably have we entangled ourselves in this wilderness 
of trifles. Our discourses, our conferences, nay, our 
very prayers are tinged with it. We have had so 
much to do without, that we have been able to do 
but little within. And how many precious opportuni- 
ties have we thus lost ? How many admonitions of 
the Spirit have passed over unfruitfully ? How often 
has the Lord called to us, when our worldly thoughts 
have prevented us from hearing ? But there certainly 
is a way to enjoy God even in our worldly employ- 
ments. If we lose our views of him when engaged in 
our temporal affairs, the fault is our own. Alas ! that 
Christians should stand at the door of eternity, hav- 
ing more work upon their hands than their time is 
sufficient for, and yet be filling their heads and hearts 
with trifles ! 

Third I infer lastly, for the awakening of all, 
that if the keeping of the heart be the great work of 
a Christian, then there are but few real Christians in 
the world. If every one who has learned the dialect 
of Christianity, and who can talk like a saint ; if 
every one who has gifts and parts, and who can make 
shift to preach, pray or discourse like a Christian ; in 
a word, if all such as associate with the people of 
God, and partake of ordinances, may pass for Chris- 



70 



KEEPING THE HEART. 



tians, then indeed the number is great. But alas ! how 
few can be found, if you judge them by this rule — how 
few are there who conscientiously keep their hearts, 
watch their thoughts, and look scrupulously to their 
motives ! Indeed there are few closet-men among pro- 
fessors ! It is easier for men to be reconciled to any 
other duties in religion than to these. The profane 
part of the world will not so much as meddle with the 
outside of any religious duties, and least of all with 
these ; and as the hypocrite, though he may be very 
particular in externals, you can never persuade him 
to undertake this inward, this difficult work ; this 
work to which there is no inducement from human 
applause ; this work which would quickly discover 
what the hypocrite cares not to know : so that by 
general consent, this heart- work is left to the hands of 
a few secret ones ; and I tremble to think in how few 
hands it is. 

Lastly : — Keep your heart, and then the comforts 
of the Spirit and the influence of all ordinances will 
be more fixed and lasting than they now are. Could 
you keep those things constantly in your heart what 
a Christian you would be, — what a life you would 
live ! And how is it that these things remain no longer 
with you ? Doubtless it is because you suffer your 
heart to grow cold again. But why do you not pre- 
vent this ? "Why do you not keep your heart ? " Do 
the consolations of God seem small to you T Ah, you 
have reason to be ashamed that the ordinances of 
God, as to their quickening and comforting effects, 
should make so light and transient an impression on 
your heart. 

Now, reader, consider well these special benefits of 
keeping the heart which I have mentioned. Examine 
their importance. Are they small matters? Is it a 
small matter to have your understanding assisted ? 
Your endangered soul rendered safe? your sincerity 
proved? your communion with (|od sweetened? 



KEEPING THE HEART. 



71 



your heart filled with matter for prayer? Is it a small 
thing to have the power of godliness again recovered? 
all fatal scandals removed ? and instrumental fitness 
to serve Christ obtained ? the communion of saints 
restored to its primitive glory? the rejoicing ever- 
more, praying without ceasing, and in every thing 
giving thanks? and the influence of ordinances 
abiding in the souls of saints ? If these are no com- 
mon blessings, no ordinary benefits, then surely it is 
a great and indispensable duty to keep the heart with 
all diligence. 

Finally : — Are you inclined to undertake the busi- 
ness of keeping your heart ? Are you resolved upon 
it? I charge you, then, to engage in it earnestly. 
Away with every cowardly feeling, and make up 
your mind to encounter difficulties. Draw your ar- 
mour from the word of God. Let the word of Christ 
dwell in you richly, in its commands, its promises, its 
threatenings ; let it be fixed in your understanding, 
your memory, your conscience, your affections. You 
must learn to wield the sword of the Spirit (which is 
the word of God) familiarly, if you would defend 
your heart and conquer your enemies. You must 
call yourself frequently to an account ; examine your- 
self as in the presence of the all-seeing God : bring 
your conscience, as it were, to the bar of judgment. 
Beware how you plunge yourself into a multiplicity 
of worldly business ; how you practice upon the 
maxims of the world ; and how you venture at all to 
indulge your depraved propensities. You must exer- 
cise the utmost vigilance to discover and check the 
first symptoms of departure from God, the least de- 
cline of spirituality, or the least indisposition to medi- 
tation by yourself, and holy conversation and fellow- 
ship with others. These things you must undertake 
in the strength of Christ, with invincible resolution 
in the outset. And if you thus engage in this great 
work, be assured you shall not spend your strength 



72 



DIRECTIONS, &C. 



for naught ; comforts which you never felt or 
thought of, will flow in upon you from every side. 
The diligent prosecution of this work will constantly 
afford you the most powerful excitements to vigi- 
lance and ardour in the life of faith, while it increases 
your strength and wears out your enemies. And 
when you have kept your heart with all diligence, a 
little while ; when you have fought the battles of this 
spiritual warfare, gained the ascendancy over the 
corruptions within, and vanquished the enemy with- 
out, then God will open the gate of heaven to you, 
and give you the portion which is. promised to them 
that overcome. Awake, then, this moment; get the 
world under your feet ; pant not for the things which 
a man may have and eternally lose his soul ; — but 
bless God that you may have his service here, and 
the glory hereafter which he appoints to the faithful. 

" Now the God of peace, that brought again from 
the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the 
sheep, through the blood of the everlasting coven ant, 
make you perfect in every good work to do his will ; 
working in you that which is well pleasing in his 
sight, through Jesus Christ : to whom be glory for 
ever and ever. Amen? 



THE END. 



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